The Pinty’s Grand Slam of Curling event in North Battleford proved to be a major effort, not only for organizers and volunteers but also for those setting up the arena.
The Civic Centre was transformed from a hockey arena into a curling venue for the tournament that took place Jan. 3 to 8.
That meant removing the glass along the boards that line the ice surface, and as City officials described before the city’s Planning Committee on Monday, that was a major undertaking.
Director of Operations Stewart Schafer reported the sheets of rink board glass, numbered at 250, were removed.
To remove the glass, a suction unit from Estevan was obtained. The City had similar equipment, but Schafer explained theirs was “too new,” meaning they kept the suction on and wouldn’t release the glass.
City officials did not want to run the risk of any of the glass shattering, so the Estevan unit was obtained.
City staff were heavily involved in the glass removal, with personnel from Operations, Public Works, the Parks Department and urban-forest all involved.
The work was described as being completed with “military precision,” as it was an organized effort to remove each pane of glass in a safe and timely manner.
One team led by Gord Whitton used a forklift which placed the suction machine onto the glass panels, turned on the suction, lifted up the panels and then passed them on to a second crew.
The second crew then placed each sheet of glass on racks borrowed from Fortress Glass, released each one and tied them down for transport.
A frontend loader was used to pick up the A-frames loaded with glass panels, and they were transported to cold storage.
The actual removal of the glass was done “very fast,” said Schafer, at a rate of one minute and 20 seconds per panel.
Putting the glass back in after the event proved a little slower, but not much, at a rate of about two minutes per panel. Each glass panel was numbered so they could be placed back in their slots quickly once the event was over.
In all, it took seven hours to remove all the glass panels and about seven-and-a-half to put them all back in, reported Schafer.
Leisure Services Director Bill Samborski also noted Estevan needed the glass-removal equipment returned in time so that their own arena could have it for a Blue Rodeo concert that took place this past weekend. It was reported by Puffalt that Samborski personally drove the equipment back to Estevan in a howling snowstorm so it would be returned in time.
In all, members of council praised the entire effort of the staff to prepare the Civic Centre for the curling event and then restore it back to normal for hockey.
Puffalt noted the effort was prepared well in advance over the course of eight months.
“It was a good opportunity for us to work together and also do something new and cool,” said Puffalt.
