Can you tell us a bit about the Bayshore Community Centre?

The Bayshore Community Centre was built in 1983 and is home to the Owen Sound Attack of the Ontario Hockey League. It's a 3,500-seat facility that also houses banquet halls. We host everything from minor hockey and minor lacrosse to OHL games, different tournaments, public skating, weddings, trade shows, banquets, and concerts. It's probably the biggest facility within about an hour and a half of Owen Sound, so we host a lot of large events and international events. It's a single-pad facility, and with some of the upgrades we've made, we're hoping to become eligible for events through Curling Canada or Hockey Canada, working with the Owen Sound Attack to potentially host more events like that.

What prompted the decision to upgrade the refrigeration system?

When I started at Owen Sound almost five years ago, I did an audit of the facility and the equipment we had. We went through one season with the existing refrigeration plant and realized that it was undersized with a small condenser and a small chiller of only 140 horsepower. We increased our size from the renovation to 150 horsepower, but we also increased our cooling capacity with a larger condenser and plate-and-frame heat exchangers.

With the age of all the major equipment reaching around 20 to 25 years old (or older), we decided to invest in that as the first item in our capital plan. We applied for a Trillium Grant and were successful, so we went ahead with the full replacement of the refrigeration plant.

We were using ammonia as the primary and brine as the secondary in the old system.

What equipment was installed as part of the upgrade, and how has it improved your operations?

We installed a new plate-and-frame chiller, three compressor packages, a condenser, and a Seasonal Plus Controller. The system was replaced in 2022, so we've gone three seasons with the new refrigeration plant.

We've definitely seen an improvement in overall ice quality. Compared to the ice temperatures we were getting with the old plant; the new system allows us to deliver a much cooler refrigerant supply to the floor.

Have you noticed any operational or efficiency improvements since the upgrade?

Absolutely. On top of ice quality improvements, maintenance costs and especially safety for our operators improved significantly. With the new Mycom compressors, we're draining oil maybe 3-4 times a season, whereas before it was a couple times a week, if not more than that. You take that element out of it, and then there are the overall maintenance and efficiency benefits.

We tracked our operating run hours on our old compressors compared to the new, and we were about 50% less run hours. We had four compressors and went to three, but we were still about half the run hours with the new plant compared to the old. It's quite an impact.

Regarding energy savings, we figured there should have been anywhere over $100,000 in savings, but the cost of electricity keeps going up. We're not necessarily seeing the dollar savings, but we're definitely paying less than we would have been if we didn't do the upgrades. We were able to see that our consumption was down – we definitely could see that we had dropped our consumption. The projects reduced our carbon footprint too, and all those things align with our strategic plan and mandates.

What was your experience working with CIMCO throughout the upgrade, from planning to commissioning?

Rich (Richard Poole) is our account manager, and we'd spoken about some of the upgrades. Initially, we were looking at individual pieces of equipment, like compressors and putting them all into our capital plan, spreading that out over a five-year period. When we applied for the grant and were successful, it really brought everything together and became a much larger project. Rich was our contact throughout that and has been the contact since the installation was completed.

Working with Evan Randall as the construction supervisor was great, and he's also the construction supervisor on our floor project. We had Henry Roefs as the lead installer on this project, and he's fantastic. Even when TSSA came in to do their final inspection on the piping and welds, when they saw his name, it also helped speed the process along.

How would you describe CIMCO's level of service and support during the project?

We didn’t have any major hiccups, but we had some really tight timelines to meet because everything has to happen in our off-season, and especially with the Attack, we have pretty hard deadlines for when the ice has to be in. There were probably tense moments thinking, "Is this going to get done?" But there was about a two-week period where they brought everything together very quickly and efficiently. We were done on time, probably maybe a little earlier than anticipated, and able to start up on time and have ice ready to go. We were done on time and on budget, so we were pretty happy with the end result.

Since then, we've been able to use the Canoe procurement system for our subsequent projects with CIMCO, including our dehumidifier and floor and board replacement, making the process even easier. This has saved us hours and hours of staff time compared to the traditional procurement process we used for the refrigeration plant upgrade. When you're managing a facility of this size with seven or eight different capital projects in one year, that time savings is significant. The Canoe system has really eased our purchasing process.

About Ryan, Manager of Arena Operations

Ryan Gowan brings 15 years of experience in arena operations, with nearly eight years in management roles. His journey in the industry began as a child when he helped out at his local arena as a "rink rat," moving nets and assisting the facility staff. After graduating from Fanshawe College with a degree in Recreation and Leisure, Ryan started his professional career at Western Fair in London, where he worked for 10 years, beginning at an entry level and working his way up. He joined the Bayshore Community Centre in Owen Sound around five years ago, transitioning from private facility management to municipal operations. He appreciates the community-focused nature of municipal work, finding it fulfilling that everything he does serves the community and the people who use the facilities.