Calls for a refrigeration system are being brought up again by the Prince George Ice Oval Society.
The Ice Oval has yet to open this year due in large part to the above-seasonal temperatures gracing the northern capital.
President, Kathy Lewis told MyPGNow.com the slow start to the year has got them thinking about increasing their fundraising efforts for the much-needed refrigeration system.
“I don’t think we would be able to fundraise the entire amount that it would cost but our goal is to get as much together as we can that would help lever additional opportunities that the city might be eligible for.”
“We have some fundraising efforts going on right now on our website where people can contribute to the Chill the Oval campaign and we’ve had conversations with the city in the past. I think we need to resurrect those and as a society, I think we need to put a little more effort into our fundraising.”
Lewis added if they want any shot of opening in the near future, temperatures will need to plunge to a chillier level.
“Once we get good ice making weather, which normally means minus seven or so during the evening and then really not going above zero during the day we need that to start building the ice. It takes about 10 days once we get that good weather.”
“We have done two floods because we’ve had cold overnight temperatures. We had a flood last night (Thursday) and the night before (Wednesday) but we can’t do too much during the day because its not cold enough. Until we get colder temperatures we can’t build ice, which means we can’t open.”
The Ice Oval had its shortest season ever last year at 44 days. A thaw caused a void in the ice leading to cracks and an end of January shut down.
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