A new Olympia ice resurfacing machine is on its way to the Trail Memorial Centre (TMC) from Resurfice, a Canadian company based out of Elmira, Ontario.
Previous: Finishing touches coming to Trail Sk8Park
Previous: New chillers for Trail
The new Olympia will be making its TMC ice debut on Wednesday, March 4 with guests from the Kootenays, Okanagan and Idaho who will be attending the Canadian Ice Training two-day Ice Maintenance Workshop.
The city invites the community to strike a group pose on the ice with the new machine on Wednesday, March 4. Photographer Mike Hockley will be there to capture the occasion.
Participants are encouraged to wear their favourite hockey jersey for the photo.
The new machine, adorned with black and orange colours to reflect Trail, is built with technology that will help save on energy and maintenance.
It has a tighter turning radius than other manufacturers, which means the operators will be able to avoid rubbing the boards in the corners of the arena while getting closer to the edge. It also has a blade leveling system that adjusts the cutting depth automatically to ensure a consistent ice depth across the entire surface.
The new $150,000 machine will replace the blue Zamboni that’s been an arena mainstay since 1988, and it will be a great companion to the TMC’s black Zamboni, purchased in 2005.
In Feb. 2019, council awarded the $131,000 contract (less taxes) to Vimar Equipment Ltd. for the re-surfacer.
Two bids were submitted in response to the city’s Request for Quotation. Kendrick Equipment was the higher bid at $134,000, compared to the quote by Vimar Equipment.
Interestingly, there are two primary manufacturers of ice re-surfacers in Canada, Zamboni and Resurfice. Each brand is distributed by a different company. Zamboni is by Kendrick Equipment, and Resurfice is distributed in B.C. by Vimar Equipment.
For more information about the March 4 photo opportunity, contact Andrea Jolly at 250-364-0834 or email communications@trail.ca.
newsroom@trailtimes.caLike us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter