This page is here to assist you in planning your ice rink and skating event.

This page is not necessarily in line item order of events to take place in your planning adventure, but more of a guide to assist you with your planning of your event.

First you will need to decide if you will be having a seasonal rink or what time frame you are looking to have your rink. If you have it too long you could be looking at a higher cost of payroll as well as rental cost, sometimes a shorter period is better than a long one. The normal length is 5 weeks starting from thanksgiving week through the first of January.

Next will be location. You will need to really think about the site requirements for the type of ice rink you plan to host.

Real Ice - 480 volts @ 200 amps for the chiller equipment. Ice Resurfacer parking space, as well as a snow dump and storage area. You may need to think of a snow melt method to remove the snow from the ice resurfacer. The site must be level within 1/2 tolerance across the rink. If the area us unlevel you can level it with a "sand box", kind of like one a child would play in. The box is built and sand is filled in the box to level the area. You will need to account for the chiller unit. It will need to be no more than 50 feet away from the rink headers. If the chiller unit must be further away there will be additional cost incurred as you will need a larger chiller for the additional heat load of the extra hose, as well as the cost for the additional hose to be placed to and from the rink headers. You will also need to think of the noise that is emitted from the chillers. The chillers themselves are quite units is the fans that remove the heat from the primary refrigerant that makes the noise. If there is a tall building near by they will hear the sound of the fans blowing large amounts of air causing some possible discomfort for them if it is their residence, at night the unit is usually quieter due to the lower temperatures at night. The most of the noise will be during the day while the largest part of the heat load is being placed on the ice sheet. You will need to allow for about one foot of space around the rink to access the railings for inspection and repairs during the season. Lastly you will need a water source near by to make the ice surface and to fill the ice resurfacer.

Synthetic or Artificial Ice - Simple, Flat level hard surface to install upon. that is the only site requirement.

Staffing - You will need people to cover the following positions to operate the rink - Manager, Admissions, Skate Rental (up to 2), Rink Monitors (up to 3). The amount of people you will need will depend on how large the rink is. The rule of thumb is the larger the rink the more people you will need to operate the rink safely and efficiently.

Marketing - It will take extensive marketing to bring people in to the skating event. Have a marketing plan in place to direct as much traffic as possible to have the highest returns on your investment in the ice rink system rental.

Items that help us help you! -

Photos - they will allow us to know what you are working with so we can properly quote your event. We do not want you to have surprise expenses due to unknown obstacles that are in the way of the rink installation.

Drawings - If you have drawings of the area the rink will be installed upon, this will come in handy so we can help with the logistics of where everything should go. Admissions, Skate Rental, Skate Change, Concessions, Etc.

Got questions? Contact us, we would be more than happy to help you plan your event.