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Pearkes rink will be out of action for over a year for major revamp

One of the two rinks at Pearkes Recreation Centre will be out of commission for extensive maintenance for more than a year starting next fall, leaving figure skaters and hockey players looking elsewhere for ice time.
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During a game played in October 2018 at Pearkes Arena, Victoria CougarsÕ Nathan Ingram grabs the puck in front of Saanich BravesÕ Zach Guerra in Vancouver Island Junior Hockey League action. The arena is the home of the Braves.

One of the two rinks at Pearkes Recreation Centre will be out of commission for extensive maintenance for more than a year starting next fall, leaving figure skaters and hockey players looking elsewhere for ice time.

The project includes replacing the 52-year-old concrete slab under the ice at the centre’s Gold Arena, the rink closest to the main entrance. The newer Green Arena, meanwhile, will be fully operational and is not in line for any major work. It dates back to the late 1990s, said centre manager Graham Thomson.

The plan is to remove the Gold Arena ice in early April and allow any permafrost beneath the slab to thaw before work starts.

The $2.6-million project is expected to run from early fall 2020 to fall 2021, and include replacement of the melting pit where scrapings from the rink are piled.

The planned rink closure will reduce the risk of damage to the centre’s foundation.

Thomson said efforts are already underway to help rink users find alternatives.

“We have a variety of community groups that do use it, and right now we are working with and communicating with not only our groups, but also with a couple of other local arenas around what can be done to minimize the impact.”

Brenda Charity of the Saanich Skating Club, made up of about 200 skaters, said the loss of a rink will pose “a very big challenge,” but the work needs to be done.

“As much as it is a huge inconvenience, we definitely don’t want to have to be forced out because of something major going wrong.”

Charity said she is already talking to people at Panorama Recreation Centre about ice availability for the club, which operates year round.

While she admits the club could lose members, she’s hoping for the best. “We will lose a percentage of our ice and hopefully be able to grab some ice somewhere else.”

Brent Polischuk, coach and general manager of the Junior B Saanich Braves, echoed Charity, saying it’s smart to do the work now, even though it means losing ice time.

“You take user groups who use both rinks at maximum capacity, then you go down to one, there’s going to be some shortfalls.”

One concern facing the Braves is that Vancouver Island Junior Hockey League bylaws require teams to play within their zone or municipality, Polischuk said. “We’re not supposed to practice and run spring camps and other things like that in other municipalities,” he said. “We would have to have a special exception from the league to get all these things done.”

The new slab will have a system of pipes for cooling — Thomson described it as a “really flat freezer.”

The project also includes new boards and glass around the rink, new netting and new flooring, as well as a new elevator to improve accessibility.

With demand for ice time so high, Saanich council plans to consider a feasibility study for a third ice sheet at Pearkes as part of its 2020 budget deliberations.

jwbell@timescolonist.com