Arena Ice Guru Guarantees Perfect Floor For Skaters

Sat., June 13, 1998

By Susan English susane@spokesman.com

When championship skaters like Michelle Kwan and Todd Eldridge land those triple jumps tonight at the Spokane Arena, leaving what looks like deep divots in the ice, there’s no need to worry that they’ve hit concrete.

The ice on the Arena floor is more than 1-1/2 inches thick, guaranteed. The man doing the guaranteeing is Arena building engineer Dave Gebhardt.

But it’s not as simple as just flooding the floor and waiting for the water to freeze.

Immediately after the Shania Twain concert at the Arena Wednesday night, the refrigeration unit was turned on and by 9 a.m. Thursday, the concrete was 14 degrees. Then the Arena building engineers sprayed the floor until the ice reached 1/8 inch. How do they know? They drill the ice at random spots and check.

The ice was painted with two coats of bright white paint and then flooded with water until it was the 1-1/2-inch depth required in the Champions On Ice contract. (The contract also specifies the paint must be at least an inch below the skating surface.)

“The person who has the toughest job is our guru ice resurfacer, Cindy Davis,” Gebhardt says. “Her job is to make the skaters happy during the performance.”

Even the surface temperature at performance time is not left to chance. The contract requires that temperature to be between 20 and 22 degrees. There’s a high-tech way of checking that, too - Gebhardt uses an infrared gun that provides a reading of surface temperature. Before the ice show sets and equipment are loaded into the Arena this morning, the show’s tour manager checks the surface temperature.

“Over the years the skaters have proven this is the best temperature for their performances,” Gebhardt says. And the temperature requirement ensures the world-class skaters will have consistent surfaces on which to perform every time they step onto the ice.

When the spotlights go off tonight, the Arena floor will be heated to melt the ice from below and bulldozers will shove what amounts to a mountain of ice out the door.

ICE TOUR The Campbell’s Soups Champions on Ice Tour will appear Saturday at 8 p.m. at the Spokane Arena. Tickets are $55 and $40, available at G&B Select-a-Seat outlets or call (800) 325-SEAT.

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