The Prince George Ice Oval Society had a positive meeting with city council to move forward with obtaining a consultant’s report on what it would cost to refrigerate the facility.
The Ice Oval was open for 42 days during the 2024-25 season, up from 27 days the year prior but is still facing challenges with warmer temperatures during the winter.
Spokesperson, Kathy Lewis told MyPGNow.com a refrigeration system would be a game-changer.
“If we can guarantee our ice then we can start holding at least provincial competitions. The Prince George Blizzard Speed Skating Club is the biggest one in the province and the amount of training they can do on our long-track ice is really limited because of our natural oval is subject to the weather issues we have been having.”
“In general, the trend is with the warmer temperatures, we are opening later and shutting down sooner with more in-season thaws.”
She added outdoor ovals in Halifax and Quebec City are able to be open longer because of refrigeration – in some cases they are still able to operate in plus seven to ten degree temperatures.
Either way, the public and local sporting clubs alike would be able to utilize the local oval a lot more than they are now.
“It would enable us to be open a lot longer and serve the public a lot better because there would be way more opportunities to skate. It would be a lot easier on our volunteers because it would be easier to build the ice and we wouldn’t have to rebuild it in the middle of the season.”
Lewis said the meeting with city officials also touched on the type of surface that would be underneath the ice or to connect it with the Kin Centre refrigeration system.
The Chill the Oval Campaign is still ongoing with over $70,000 raised up to this point.
For a link to how you can donate, click here.
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