SUNDRE – As the municipality announced the opening of the brand new permanent outdoor rink, the extreme cold has caused problems at the Sundre Arena, prompting local officials to temporarily shutter the facility over the weekend.
In a statement posted online, municipal officials said the severe cold is hampering the flow of water through the ice plant’s cooling tower and is freezing before reaching where it’s supposed to go, effectively rendering the plant inoperable.
“To protect the existing ice in the arena and to protect the ice plant itself, we must shut it down,” reads part of the statement, adding all of the events from Friday, Jan. 12 to Sunday, Jan. 14 have been cancelled.
“We recognize the irony of this situation, and are terribly sorry about this inconvenience.”
But anyone who is really itching to go skating now has the choice of checking out the new outdoor rink at no cost; provided of course they’re willing to brave the extreme cold that led Chinook’s Edge School Division to cancel buses and close schools on Friday, Jan. 12.
Environment Canada has issued an extreme cold warning for the entire province. Wind chill values between -40 C and -55 are occurring Friday morning, and will continue through the day, the federal agency said in an update at 4:44 a.m. Jan. 12.
Benazir Thaha Valencia, the town’s manager of planning and economic development, confirmed on Thursday, Jan. 11 that the ice at the new outdoor rink was ready following several floods that were carried out by members of the Sundre Fire Department.
The permanent rink that now sits atop a concrete pad that will offer year-round recreational opportunities, is located immediately west of the Sundre Skatepark on the south side of 2nd Avenue NW across the road from the Sundre Rodeo Grounds’ racetrack.
The municipality had previously placed a temporary, seasonal rink with collapsible boards that clip together and were packed up for the summer. That temporary seasonal setup has been relocated to the Royal Purple Park in the northeast subdivision along the 8th Avenue NE loop.
Work on that outdoor rink remained underway as of Jan. 11 after flooding efforts uncovered a leak that resulted in water spilling out onto the nearby street, said Valencia, adding the opening has been delayed but that efforts to get the ice ready remain underway.
