EVERETT — Walking into the Everett Events Center Monday from the sunny, warm street was like traveling to the top of Mount Pilchuck in one fell swoop.
The temperature inside the arena was a chilly 50 to 55 degrees so workers could lay the ice on which the Everett Silvertips hockey team will begin playing Oct. 4.
Workers won’t finish laying the ice until Thursday, but Monday they used a special paint to transform the gray concrete floor of the arena into a familiar ice-rink white.
The temperature was a bit lower than it will be during Silvertips games — but not much. No matter what the weather is like outside, you should consider bringing your jacket to games: the arena temperature usually will be about 57 degrees, to make sure the ice stays solid, said Brian Skow, operations manager for the center.
Although the Silvertips’ first home game isn’t until Oct. 4, workers are hurrying to have the ice in the arena and the community ice rinks ready for Saturday’s open house. At the event, the public will be able to wander through much of the center while taking in entertainment ranging from a Japanese drum group to a balloon artist. The open house will be 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.
The preparation for Monday’s ice-laying began Friday, when workers began lowering the temperature of the floor from 62 to 16 degrees. Hundreds of feet of polyurethane "cooling lines" filled with calcium chloride wind in a huge coil underneath the floor to keep it cool, so the ice doesn’t melt, said Zach Hendricks, assistant operations manager for the events center. But the floor must be cooled slowly.
"If you go too fast, there’s a chance of having the whole slab crack," Skow said.
On Monday, a sixteenth-inch layer of ice was laid, followed by four coats of "Jet Ice," a white powder that a mechanical mixer combines with water to create a thin paint.
The paint must be thin so the coldness transmitted by the calcium chloride reaches the top layer of ice, Skow said.
Workers were scheduled to paint lines and the Silvertips logo Monday night and add another sixteenth-inch frosting of ice. Tonight, they will begin spraying 10,600 gallons of water on the arena floor to build an inch of ice. The ice-laying will continue non-stop until Thursday morning, Skow said.
Workers will spray cold water and then hot water because it has less dissolved oxygen and leads to a clearer appearance, said Kyle Wintermute, manager of the community ice rink.
There will be one inch of ice in the arena and about 11/4 inches of ice in the community rink. That rink’s ice must be thicker because it will be used by figure skaters, who dig into the ice during jumps. The placement of the community rink’s ice probably will begin Wednesday night.
The Silvertips will practice on the community ice rink Saturday morning, and there will be free public skating that afternoon. The arena’s ice will be half-covered Saturday by a wooden basketball court, to remind open-house guests that the arena will be used for more than hockey, said Fred Safstrom, executive director of the Everett Public Facilities District, which runs the events center.
Although the initial laying of ice is done manually, the events center will rely on a $70,000 Zamboni machine to quickly scrape and then add ice between periods of hockey games and after events.
Reporter David Olson: 425-339-3452 or dolson@heraldnet.com.
Crews will work nonstop through Thursday to lay the ice at the Everett Events Center. About 10,600 gallons of water are needed to create ice an inch thick.
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