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Vol. 16, No. 11, Wednesday, February 10, 2021 www.LamontLeader.com
Heart wrenching end to winter arena sports
Photo: Dennis Tomuschat
Bruderheim’s Karol Maschmeyer Arena with 20 per cent of its ice gone. Removal efforts had to be abandoned last week due to extreme cold weather.
Cold weather slows arena ice removal
BY JANA SEMENIUK Municipalities began the heart wrenching task of removing ice from their arenas this past week after Alberta Minor Hockey canceled the remainder of its 2021 hockey season. Uncertainty around the easing of gathering restrictions due to the COVID pandemic prompted the move. An announcement on the province’s web page later added that although children can now participate in limited team sports, games will not be allowed. “This is the first time we have taken
ice out when it is thirty below,” said Bruderheim Chief Administrative Officer Patty Podoborozny during the Feb. 3 town council meeting. Removing the arena ice, which usually happens during the early spring, has been challenging for Public Works employees in all municipalities. Bruderheim’s Director of Operations and Infrastructure, Dennis Tomuschat, explained why removing the ice has been difficult. “The bond hasn’t let go between the ice and the concrete yet. We started the
process and had to stop due to the cold being too hard on the equipment,” he said during the council meeting. Tomuschat added, by phone interview, the process could typically be complete in a matter of days. “The concrete slab needs to warm up to at least -10. Once the ice plant is ready for ice removal, we open the doors for the warmer air and let nature take its course,” he said. Tomuschat explained that the ice is not allowed to melt completely. “We try to get the ice out while it’s
soft and use machinery to break it up and take out the chunks of ice. We load it into trucks and get rid of it at our snow dumps. We don’t want to see water as it can seep into places you don’t want it to go,” he said. While the public works employees were able to remove approximately 20 per cent of the ice, Tomuschat said the rest would have to wait. “The cold was just too hard on the equipment,” he said. “We are going to have to wait until the weather warms up. There’s no rush.”