The ice plant project is well underway, and on track. Fraser Valley Refrigeration is managing the project, and to date, the old chillers, original ammonia receiver, pipes and equipment have been removed. The old ammonia relief line has been disconnected and a new line has been run to the far west end of the arena rooftop (away from the Carlton) for an added level of safety. The new chillers and receiver are onsite and FVR has relocated the brine expansion tanks to the inside of the Plant room to allow a much more efficient flow of brine through the significantly minimized piping. With an abatement company on location, they will also ensure that any previously remaining asbestos is removed from the Plant room. These enhanced safety factors are being well received by TSBC, Worksafe and the staff working in this space on a daily basis; it also allows staff more reliable access for inspection and maintenance.
The small and large rink has been fully melted (for the first time in almost 10 years!) and all of the surface paint has been raked and is being removed. To date there seems to be no glaring issues with the boards or the sand base other than some minor leveling issues. We will be removing sections of puck board to inspect the wood behind for any failures or areas requiring maintenance over the next couple weeks. We will be bringing in leveling equipment to try to ensure the sand base is as level as possible to try to minimize the thickness of the ice for the upcoming season. During removal we found that the ice was as much as 6 inches thick in spots and as low as 1-1/2 inches in others. This varied ice thickness directly results in inconsistent ice conditions, extremely high energy use in the ice plant, and overly long drying times. We may not be able to eliminate all of these issues, but users can certainly expect to see improvements in ice conditions.