Soldotna ice rink nearly lost its ice at least once this year, parks director says

The refrigeration system at the Soldotna Ice Arena has nearly lost its ice at least once this year, possibly twice, Parks and Recreation Director Joel Todd told the city's Parks and Recreation Advisory Board on Thursday.

The latest trouble forced staff to cancel four scheduled ice sessions on Friday, Sept. 25, while crews rebuilt a compressor. "We did have to cancel 4 sheets of ice last Friday as we emergently rebuilt a compressor," Todd said. The rebuild got the system running, but the cause was never found. "We didn't find the bug. But we put it back together and it worked," he said.

Most of this year's problems trace to the software that runs the system, Todd said, and crews are "chasing gremlins" trying to get it to work correctly. Parts are another challenge: one component that broke is no longer made, 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.

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

A board member said the ice had seemed troublesome for some time, and staff confirmed the problems are at the existing arena.

Paperwork for a bid on design work is in progress, Todd 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.