It may be a special anniversary for Canada this year, but Panorama Recreation Centre is also getting plenty of gifts.
Thanks in part to a grant from the Canada 150 funding program, funds from its capital reserve and money from the North Saanich facility’s Hockeyville victory two years ago, the recreation centre’s main ice arena is getting a major make-over, which will make it one of the top rinks on the Island.
When it’s all said and done — and $2.2 million has been spent — the Panorama rink, home to the Peninsula Panthers of the Vancouver Island Junior Hockey League, will barely resemble the past-its-time old one. The entire ice surface is being moved four feet closer to the stands, and the penalty box, which was normally situated between the players’ benches, is being moved across to the opposite side. And an extra two feet of ice means the 200 by 85-foot ice surface will now be National Hockey League size.
“This is about as big an undertaking you can do to an arena,” said John Goodwin, manager for facilities and operations for Panorama Recreation Centre.
“I’ve been in this business a very long time, and this will be only the second time I’ve seen this much work done.”
The new concrete base was poured two weeks ago, and now work is being done on a new state-of-the-art refrigeration system that will give the Panorama rink one of, if not the, best ice on the Island.
“We are completely modernizing the cooling system and replacing the old four-inch piping system with a new three-and-a-half inch piping system which allows for more total number of pipes which allows for better, tight freezing which gives you a harder, better quality of ice,” Goodwin said.
“We are basically going from a poor junior B rink to a high-end junior A rink. The players are going to love it.”
The players will also love the new rink boards, at least their bodies will.
“We are replacing the old steel ones which I think have been around since the 1970s, with these new light-weight ones with aluminum base which will be much more forgiving on a players’ body,” added Goodwin. “And we are also bringing in state-of-the-art, eight-foot high glass which the players and the fans will love.”
Add in the new padding around the gates at the benches and curved glass in the corners and the players should be raving about playing at Pamorama.
“We’re taking the pain out of hockey,” laughed Goodwin.
The project is supposed to be completed near the third week of September and while it will keep the rink’s No. 1 tenant — the Panthers — on the road for the first three weeks of their season, the wait, according to Goodwin, will be worth it.
“It’s short-term pain for long-term gain. This is something we’re really proud of and has been a long time coming. I think everyone, from the players to the fans to all the user groups are in for a real treat.”
And perhaps the icing on the cake is courtesy the centre’s Hockeyville win in 2015. A new giant TV/scoreboard will be installed at one end of the arena, allowing for an even more fan friendly experience.
“It’s costing us about $75,000 and will be a huge addition for us. We can do everything from replays to electronic ads so we’re really excited about it.”
An official grand opening for the new-look arena is being planned around Oct. 1.
“It should be a special day. We’re going to have a big cake and we’ll have VIPs and government officials here to cut the ribbon. This was a huge undertaking for a lot of people so we want to recognize everyone’s hard work because this is not something that gets done very often.”
