Soldotna ice rink nearly loses ice at least once, possibly twice

The refrigeration system at the Soldotna Ice Arena has come close to losing its ice at least once this year, possibly twice, the speaker presenting the Parks and Recreation Department's quarterly report told the Soldotna Parks and Recreation Advisory Board on Thursday. The latest trouble forced staff to cancel four scheduled ice sessions on Sept. 25 during an emergency compressor rebuild.

"We did have to cancel 4 sheets of ice last Friday as we emergency rebuilt the compressor on Friday to try to fix a bug," the speaker said.

The cause never turned up. "We didn't find the bug, but we put it back together and it worked," the speaker said.

Most of this year's trouble traces to the software that runs the system, the speaker said. "We've put a lot of band-aids onto it." Crews are "chasing gremlins" trying to get the programs to behave. Staff had "almost lost ice" at least once, "if not twice," this year.

One broken component is no longer manufactured, and the department found replacements on eBay. The department's written report to the board also notes summer "challenges with the refrigeration system," fixed by crew members working a weekend once repair parts arrived.

The rink's operations supervisor looks tired every day, the speaker said. The department has backup plans and is running the system as well as it can, but keeping it going is becoming harder.

A board member said the ice had seemed troublesome for some time. The problems are at the old arena, the speaker confirmed.

Paperwork for a design-work bid is in progress, the speaker said. Design is expected to start this winter, with staff hoping for a completed design by spring so the city can work out how to budget for the project. No cost estimate or construction date was given Thursday.