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It’s been almost a week since the Crescent Point Place ice surface and Tom Zandee Sports Arena in Weyburn was shut down because of an ammonia leak, and on Monday there was still no timeline for when the facility could re-open.
Last week, staff at the rink discovered there was an ammonia leak coming from a newly installed ice plant that was installed for the 2023-24 hockey season. The twin arenas are the only sheets of ice in the community.
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“We’re hoping to find out here in the next couple days what the next steps are,” said Andrew Crowe, director of leisure services for the City of Weyburn.
“It’ll be a few days still until that ice plant is operating again (and that’s) best case scenario, and then we’ll have to do some work to our ice as well to make things usable.”
Crowe calls the ammonia leak from the new ice plant concerning, especially since the old ice plant never had a problem like this.
“It is a rather expensive piece of equipment. We’ll be working through insurance and through the manufacturer as well to address the situation,” he said.
“Hopefully we can conduct some repairs and get things going again for the remainder of the year, and then we’ll look at a more long-term solution.”
Crowe said the ice plant for the arena cost $260,000.
“The big thing for us is just making sure that our our arena is safe for not only our users, but also our staff as well,” he added.
“Ammonia is something not to be taken lightly, so we’re going to do whatever we need to to make sure that we can return to operations safely.”
Crowe said nobody fell sick or had to be hospitalized after the ammonia leak was discovered.
The closure of the arena has meant minor hockey teams and full-time tenants have had to find ice time in neighbouring communities.
Crowe didn’t know how much money the city was losing out on as a result of the closure, but he did say it would be a noticeable hit to their operations.
Other communities benefiting from ice time
Because hockey teams in Weyburn can’t play in the city, other towns nearby are benefiting.
In Yellow Grass, Brett Wawro helps run the rink and said bookings at the community arena are up 10 to 15 per cent.
“We’ve taken a little bit of an uptick in ice rentals from some of the Weyburn teams — we already do have some Weyburn teams that practice in Yellow Grass regularly,” Wawro said.
“We can only take so much, because all of our prime ice time is taken already. The Weyburn Red Wings have come out a couple times in the afternoon, and we’ve had a few rentals like that.”
Wawro said the bookings are giving the community rink a bit of extra cash.
“It’s a nice little bump,” Wawro said.
“We’ll get a few more games here, which also means we’ll have the booth open, which means a few more dollars coming into the booth as well, so that’s always a nice little bonus.”
With no timeline being established for when Weyburn’s arena could open, Wawro said he and the community are more than confident that they’ll be able to keep accommodating Weyburn users if needed.
“We’ve noticed some of the extra pressures, but at the same point we’re realizing that this is only a one to two week kind of thing. We’re holding the fort and making our way through, but it is nice getting these extra rentals,” Wawro said.
“It’s definitely feasible for us to continue helping,” he added. “Weyburn has been pretty good to deal with.”
How dangerous is an ammonia leak in an arena?
Ammonia is used to help refrigerate the ice surface. According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), ammonia is an economically and environmental efficient option for the rinks to use to keep their ice cool. It is also energy efficient and doesn’t cause damage to the ozone layer.
Exposure to ammonia can lead to some major problems.
The EPA says if it isn’t properly managed or contained, it can become an irritant to the eyes, nose and throat.
Exposure to ammonia can cause headaches, coughing, difficulty and impaired vision. Those symptoms can lead to asthma, blindness, and pulmonary edema, which can be fatal.
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