Some winter sports may be on hold early this season as the City of Prince Rupert doesn't expect to have ice in the arena until early November.
“We had a mechanical failure with the chiller, which is what makes the ice. There is a brine that goes through some pipes, and those pipes are surrounded by ammonia, but the pipes have rusted out and the ammonia is seeping into the brine,” explained acting city manager Bill Horne, noting that early November is the date they're shooting for although it may be sooner.
“It needs to be replaced. It was scheduled to be replaced in the next two years and Civic Centre staff had started getting information from suppliers on the cost and type of machine, but this chiller went before we could get a new one.”
One of the many organizations – including Prince Rupert Minor Hockey and the Prince Rupert Figure Skating Club - that would be impacted by any delay is the Prince Rupert Rampage hockey team of the Central Interior Hockey League. What the delay means for them is fans shouldn't expect to see the team until November.
“As of now the league schedule isn't out, so I have asked the league not to schedule any home games until November 3, since we always try to have a game during the old-timers tournament...Basically our ice time will be when we travel to Terrace for the Challenge Cup. Other than that we will be focussing on dry-land training,” said Rampage team president Ron German, noting that potential players should be coming out for training Wednesday at seven p.m. at the Prince Rupert Middle School field or in the gym if the weather is poor.
“We have a great opportunity this year, with a young team with lots of speed and some veterans talking about coming out.”