It was out with the old and in with the new recently as the existing Zamboni was pulled from duty at the Castlegar and District Recreation and Aquatic Centre and relegated to spend it's remaining useful years at the Pioneer Arena. Taking its place - a pristine new model.
Maintenance Foreman Todd Wallace said the main reason for the switch was to retire the unit (a '78 model) from the Pioneer Arena. The main, and busier rink gets the new machine.
Wallace says the life expectancy of the California-built Zambonis, given the relatively low hours they run, is quite long.
The acquisition is described below in an excerpt from some March 5 Council Briefs in the Castlegar News;
Coun. Kevin Chernoff told the group of the plan to take the old ice resurfacing vehicle out of service at the Pioneer Arena, to be replaced by the current unit from the recreation complex, which is to be bumped by a new Zamboni.
"Something had to be done," said Chernoff. "We looked at maybe going to an all-electric unit, keeping with the green theme, but the price difference was probably about $60,000 more, so we've stuck with a propane-powered unit."The councillor revealed that buying and taking delivery of a new Zamboni is a roughly 10-month process involving an outlay of $110,000.A scissor-lift (to a maximum cost of $10,000) is another major asset that is to be added to the equipment at the complex.
Older model is pictured below
