Challenge

The City of Lakeville was facing aging infrastructure at both of their arenas, Ames and Hasse, resulting in the need for a large capital improvements project. The largest need was at Ames Arena, a two ice sheet facility that was built in 1994. Ames Arena required replacement of the outdated ice making R-22 refrigeration plant. In addition to being at the end of its useful life, the plant used R-22 refrigerant which has been banned in North America since 2020 due to environmental issues. Another major need at the facility was the replacement of the aging ice arena floor. The floor replacement project also included reducing the size of the ice sheet. The sheet went from the obsolete Olympic size (200’ x 100’) rink floor to the NHL standard 200’ x 85’rink floor to meet the communities’ current needs.

The goal of this project was to update the facility to run as efficiently as possible and make the arena compliant with environmental regulations for years to come.

Our Solution

With the guidance and management of Apex, the City of Lakeville chose to implement many improvements including:

New state of the art ammonia refrigeration system running both rinks
New floors for both rinks, including a new NHL standard sized rink
New efficient LED lighting throughout the facility
Upgraded building envelope solutions
New HVAC systems and building automation
Low emissivity ceiling
Building addition to house the new refrigeration system
New dasher board system
Boiler plant and dehumidification unit replacements

Final Result

The skating community and others who use the rink are pleased with the updates made to the facilities, including the new NHL-size, refrigerated, year-round ice rink. The project is expected to save the City almost $75,000 per year.

The next phase of the project is to replace the existing R-22 refrigeration plant at Hasse Arena as well as adding a covered, refrigerated outdoor ice sheet. Construction for this project will start in the spring of 2023.