Winter is cold enough – the arena shouldn’t be colder than necessary. That’s why the Carrot River Recreation Board is raising money to improve the temperatures inside the local rink.
The Carrot River Community Centre is an indoor artificial arena, which is approaching its 35th anniversary, and is experiencing significant insulation degradation, noted Miranda Blaber, Carrot River’s recreation co-ordinator.
The degradation, coupled with the fact some of the walls currently contain no insulation at all, has caused two problems: The cold air is coming in through the roof and walls, and extra moisture is coming in as well, said Blaber.
The cold arena, mixed with the humidity, causes the arena to feel even colder than it might otherwise be.
While Blaber is not sure exactly how cold the arena gets, she said thermometers in the past have shown it to reach at least -15° C, with the humidity in the air causing it to feel even colder.
“I know some people would like to say to you, it’s -20° in there and it’s -30°. It feels colder than it actually is because there’s a lot of humidity.”
The project was part of the five-year capital plan, but some of the user groups of the arena banded together and asked that the project be moved up, noted Blaber.
“We’re not going to turn away people who have great ideas and motivation towards improving their community.”
In addition to the user groups coming forward, Blaber said now felt like a good time to make the improvements in tandem with the 35th anniversary, which occurs in the fall.
The recreation board worked closely with the Community Centre manager, said Blaber, who noted he spent some time looking at the ceiling and walls and also spent time speaking with other rinks, deciding that replacing the insulation and installing a dehumidifier would be the best course of action for improving the temperature.
“It still is an arena. It still is going to be quite cold, but we could warm it so it is a little more comfortable and in doing so reduce expenses,” Blaber noted.
The recreation board is holding a Horse Chip Raffle to try and raise money for the project, needing $30,000 to replace the insulation in the roof, $40,000 to replace the insulation in the roof and walls, or $80,000 to replace the insulation in the roof and walls, and to install the dehumidifier.
The raffle is unique, said Blaber.
It features 1,000 tickets, with each ticket having a corresponding square on a grid.
On the day of the draw a black horse, a brown horse and a chicken will be let into the grid where they will have four hours to place their chip, with the corresponding grid number winning the prize.
There are three prizes available, with the black horse chip being worth $5,000, the brown horse chip $1,000 and the chicken chip $250.
“Overall it’s a very exciting project just because the user groups of this facility are coming together and they’re working together with this one goal in mind that is going to serve not only them but the community, spectators, visitors.”
Blaber said it is exciting to see the community band together for the project.
