Top shelf Centennial Ice Arena scores new rink in renovation efforts
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n Highland Park, Illinois, a suburb of Chicago, Centennial Ice Arena serves as a hub for ice skaters, hockey players and gymnastics enthusiasts. The single-sheet indoor ice rink
facility affiliated with four local hockey organizations, serving as a hub for highly qualified staff and progressive programming. The facility, which features an indoor ice rink and a fully-equipped gymnastics studio, offers Learn to Skate, hockey, freestyle and gymnastics lessons for all skill levels. In addition, Centennial is a member of AAU Gymnastics, US Figure Skating and follows the Learn to Skate USA program. But early in 2020, as the pandemic was taking hold, the ice rink floor was in need of a renovation. Due to the pandemic, the design, bidding and negotiations were all completed over virtual meetings with Stellar, specializing in designing, engineering and maintaining industrial refrigeration systems. It would be the Jacksonville, Florida-based firm's first recreational ice rink floor renovation.
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COMMERCIAL CONSTRUCTION & RENOVATION — ISSUE 10, 2021
By Jose Mergulhao
The $1.8 million project included the installation of a new ice sheet floor system, as well as the demolition and replacement of the old refrigeration room. The new state-of-the-art refrigeration system utilizes the Chemours Opteon™ solution, the official refrigerant of the National Hockey League (NHL). Stellar officially partnered with The Chemours Company in 2019, with the goal of developing and promoting the Opteon™ product in recreational and industrial refrigeration projects, including retrofits. Today’s industrial and recreational facility owners are seeking refrigeration solutions that are safer and more environmentally sustainable, while still balancing performance and cost. Serving as the general contractor and construction manager for the Centennial Ice
