Nanaimo Curling Club looks at options as a broken chiller could take out the start of next season

Weinreich (pictured) says the club was expecting the chiller to last for at least 20 years, so for it to go out of service after only 13 years was a big surprise. Photo: Lauryn Mackenzie / CHLY 101.7fm

The Nanaimo Curling Club is on thin ice as they deal with a broken chiller that could affect the start of the next season

Founded in 1947, the Nanaimo Curling Club has been at its current location since 1968. The club hosts a wide range of leagues for all ages, including stick curling, regular curling, seniors curling, women's curling, men's curling, and youth curling. As well the space at the Nanaimo Curling Centre is often booked for non-curling events from quilters to frisbee golfers.

The space has been through several updates and renovations since opening 56 years ago, but now the club faces a new problem as its chiller has been found to be in poor shape.

CHLY met with Tom Weinreich, the current president of the curling club at the centre to talk about the current state of the chiller.

“We had an inspection done by Technical Safety BC and said ‘hey, this chiller isn't in poor shape, we will not allow it to operate for the upcoming season,’ which was a big surprise to us,” he said.

Weinreich who has been curling for over 50 years, said the club was expecting the chiller to last for at least 20 years, so for it to go out of service after only 13 years was a big surprise.

The space has been through several updates and renovations since opening 56 years ago, but now the club faces a new problem as its chiller has been found to be in poor shape. Photo: Lauryn Mackenzie / CHLY 101.7fm

He said that without a chiller there can be no ice, and without ice, there can be no curling.

“The chiller is what actually cools the concrete slab which actually forms the ice when we actually put water on it. It's basically a passive device,” he said. “The one that we have has tubes in it where the water–which is actually a brine solution–runs through and surrounding those tubes is expanded ammonia which cools as it expands, therefore cools the brine. Then the brine is pumped out in the ice and recirculates back to the chiller.”

He said in the chiller about 200 tubes are running through the system, which over time can corrode. The corroding of the tubes could lead to leaks in the water and ammonia tubes 

In 2017 in Fernie, British Columbia, three people died at a curling rink due to an ammonia leak from a chiller according to a Technical Safety BC report done in 2018.

A typical curling season for the club starts in September and runs through March. 

When the most recent season ended, a mandated chiller inspection occurred in May and that’s when the problems were found. 

Weinreich said that under Technical Safety BC regulations they have multiple inspections done throughout the season for the various equipment used at the centre.

When the problems were found, the club was quick to look for a solution so it would not affect the upcoming season. 

Weinreich said the cost to replace the current chiller with a new one is $235,600. A price the club does not have the money for.
He said that while the club does have a capital reserve fund that comes from member fees every year, the last few years have seen several needed updates to the building that used up most of the money.

“Last year, for instance, we ended up installing a new boiler for the heating system, as well as a new hot water tank and that drained our reserves of approximately $40,000. So $40,000,” he said. “We're looking at fundraising efforts in the future, to ensure that we have money on hand when these failures do occur, we just haven't been proactive enough up until this point.

One option he has looked into is provincial grants to pay for the new chiller, but Weinreich said one of the problems with applying for grants is that the club has to have 50 per cent of the money upfront.

That would mean the club would have to have $103,000 just to apply for the grants.

With that in mind, the club has started fundraising by offering its more than 450 members the option to purchase a 10-year interest-free debenture.

Weinreich said that many members stepped up to fundraise the money needed. In just over a few weeks over $80,000 has been raised.

When the most recent season ended, a mandated chiller inspection occurred in May and that’s when the problems were found. Photo provided by Tom Weinreich

On June 19, Weinreich attended the City of Nanaimo’s Finance and Audit Committee meeting to see what the city could do to help support the club and cover the remaining costs to pay for the new chiller.

At the meeting, Weinreich explained the current state of the chiller and the options they have to replace it. He told the council that while it would be nice if the city could pay for the whole cost of a new chiller, the club has skin in the game to take on as much of the cost as they can through fundraising.

Weinreich told CHLY  that if the club were to buy a new chiller, the timeline of getting it installed would affect the next season.

“Well, it doesn't look good. The timeline to actually receive a new chiller, we were told, is approximately 20 weeks, which basically is you're almost at the five-month mark,” Weinreich said. “So by the time you get installed, we'd already be into the second half of the season, which is still okay, but we would rather be open for the regular season.” 

But a new option has recently come up that is giving the club hope for a timely solution. 

“Another aspect that we have is we do have a club member who is certified to work on pressure vessels and he is going to look at actually replacing the tubes in the chiller so that we can operate next season at a much lower cost,” Weinreich said.

Weinreich said that a member of the curling club who is certified to work on systems such as the chiller at the curling centre could look into replacing the 200 tubes in the machine.

“These companies also do work for, you know, industry out in the oil fields where they need heat transfer and basically, that's all this is, is a heat transfer– or cold transfer device,” Weinreich said. “So they do these on a regular basis, maybe not for curling clubs, but for other titans of the industry, so to speak.”

While he is unsure how much it would cost to replace the tubes, he said it would be a lot cheaper than the cost of getting a new chiller.

At the Finance and Audit Committee meeting, Weinreich said that while they are looking at the idea of repairing the chiller, the club is still looking ahead in case it can not be fixed and the club needs to buy a new one.

Many of the council members spoke about the importance of the curling club for Nanaimo.

Councillor Janice Perrino mentioned that Nanaimo will be hosting the 55+ BC Games next year and the curling games are set to be done at the Nanaimo Curling Centre.

Councillor Ian Thorpe who was once a member of the club and on the executive said he knows the values of the club for the city and sees the importance of making sure it stays a value.

“I know that there are issues with the club in terms of the roof and other things that Mr. Weinreich has referenced to–the boiler and so on and now an unexpected cost, so I am certainly sympathetic,” Thorpe said. “I'm really hopeful of this information that there's a chance of repair, Iut I would be supportive of counsel also being in a position to help out to some extent. I'm really impressed that the club is actively fundraising and has shown a commitment.”

Council then made a motion to have staff provide a report on the Nanaimo Curling Club for how the city could support the club in securing an operational chiller. The motion passed unanimously.

For now, it is a race against time for the curling club as they look into all the options they have to get an operational chiller up and running for this fall.

Weinreich said the problems with the chiller should not discourage people from what could happen with the next season. He said the club is still welcoming curlers either new or returning to come and join in on a league. 

Funding Note: This story was produced with funding support from the Local Journalism Initiative, administered by the Community Radio Fund of Canada.