Building An Ice Skating Rink From Start To Finish!
Building an ice rink is no simple feat. In fact, the entire process is almost as magical as the CDA On Ice experience itself! What began as a grassy area at McEuen Park has evolved into a construction site that churned out the (literal) coolest place in town!
The Murrays know a thing or two about commercial refrigeration. With his career experience in this field, owner Jerome Murray is the pro behind maintaining a sheet of ice for skaters to enjoy each day.
Traditional style rinks are 120 feet long by 80 feet wide. The construction process begins by bringing in 200 yards of topsoil to create a level base. Then a plastic sheet is placed on top of that, and a system of 16 miles of tubing is applied over that sheeting.
Once that’s in place, water is sprayed over the tubes (that are 5 degrees) and it freezes in layers, which slowly starts building layers of ice. Once the ice reaches ½ inch thick, we drive over the ice to intentionally crack it. This gets all the air pockets out. We then fill those cracks with water that freezes and expands to create a solid sheet of ice.
This is a 5 day process and brings the ice up to 2 inches in thickness. But we included one magical addition in between these layers - LED strip lights! These are especially fun at night!
On top of the tubing, lighting, and the 2 inches of ice, a white mesh is applied over the entire surface - that's what gives the ice a nice, white appearance. This also hides the tubing.
A nearby chiller (or refrigeration unit) is used to cool glycol (better known as antifreeze), which is chilled down to 5 degrees fahrenheit and then pumped through the tubing system.
Now We’re Skater-Ready
Getting the rink ready for skaters is quite a production! Incredibly, the amount of refrigeration it takes to build an ice rink is about triple what it takes to maintain the ice once it's built. So the first week we use all the refrigeration available. Once we get a solid sheet, we use about ⅓ of that energy to maintain the ice throughout the season.
To finish off the boundary of the rink, dasher boards (wall panels) are installed directly over the ice mats, creating the framework of the rink. That’s where you can see all our incredible sponsors that help make this rink a reality for our community!
Building a rink is an intricate process, but it’s one of the most exciting steps in our season’s process. It means the fun is about to begin, and we can’t wait for you to join us!