The skating and curling season in Enderby has come to an abrupt halt.
The Enderby Memorial Arena is shut down for the remainder of the ice season, including the curling rink, due to an issue with its refrigeration system, the City of Enderby said Thursday, Jan. 4.
The city says the problem requires an immediate shutdown of the rink “to perform the necessary repairs and prevent damage,” chief administrative officer Tate Bengtson said.
The city has been advised by its refrigeration mechanic and an engineer that if the system is not shut down, damage to its components will occur, which would lead to a “significant risk of a safety hazard.”
“Unfortunately, a sudden increase in corrosion inside of the refrigeration system has led to a build-up of sediment affecting one of its critical components,” Bengtson explained. “As a result, brine circulation pumps are drawing air into the system. If left unchecked, this causes deterioration in the system.
“The city is shutting down the system out of an abundance of caution. The safety of the public and workers is the city’s number one priority.”
Bengtson said the affected component will be cleared of sediment and the source of the corrosion replaced.
The ice season normally ends in early March, but the rest of the season has now been cancelled and refunds are being provided to affected groups, Bengtson said.
“The city apologizes to arena users for the inconvenience and thanks them for their patience and understanding as we work to remedy this problem in our facility and return to regular operations for the start of the 2024 ice season in September.”
The city confirmed on Facebook Thursday that the curling rink has been shut down as well as the skating rink.
Numerous groups use the Enderby Arena, including the North Okanagan Minor Hockey Association. The Morning Star has reached out to the association for details on the impact the arena closure will have on the current hockey season.
A.L. Fortune Secondary’s Hockey Canada Skills Academy uses the rink four times a week, and news of the arena’s closure has left them scrambling. Head instructor Daniel Derksen said the school’s principal, Mark Marino, has already been on the phone to see if ice time is available at the Sicamous arena.
“And we’ll contact Armstrong and even Salmon Arm to see if there’s any daytime ice that we could maybe pick up,” Derksen said Thursday afternoon.
Derksen said he’s doubtful Salmon Arm will have ice time available for the hockey academy.
“Even though they’ve got the two arenas, the bigger centers, they tend to be booked up.”
Even if the academy can secure ice time, Derksen said transportation costs could be an issue. Before the Enderby rink’s closure, the 31 students in the academy needed only walk a few minutes from the high school to the rink for their ice sessions.
The hockey academy was only scheduled to run until the end of January, but Derksen said they may have to refund some of their students’ fees if sessions need to be cancelled over the final month of the program.
“We’re going to have to see what we can do on short notice,” he said.
Editor’s note: This story was updated to include the closure of the curling rink.
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