For help with the broken ice refrigeration system at Memorial Arena, the city of Dawson Creek is turning to the oil patch.
The city is inviting power engineers, chemical engineers, purchasers and other oil patch specialists freed up by the economic slowdown to have a look under the hood at its arenas and curling rink.
"Crowd sourcing" engineering expertise on the aging refrigeration system that ended ice seasons at Memorial Arena and the curling rink came forward in a staff report to council Monday.
Chief administrative office Jim Chute said that while refrigeration systems in the oil and gas industry differ from ice rinks, there are similarities.
"The folks in the natural gas, this is a fairly common of way of how they approach issues in their facilities," Chute said. "You're looking for innovation."
It's not clear what will come of the crowd sourcing idea. It would go hand-in-hand with the city's existing plan to address the arena issue.
While a broken chiller was thought to be the problem, the city is investigating the full extent of its ice infrastructure at Memorial Arena, Kin Arena and the curling rink. That includes the compressors, condensers, piping and the ice pad itself.
It's also carrying out an assessment of the future needs of ice users.
From the Alaska Highway News