All systems go for ice rink opening at PPG Place

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All systems go for ice rink opening at PPG Place

Saturday, December 15, 2001

By Ann Rodgers-Melnick, Post-Gazette Staff Writer

The tree sparkles at center ice while fiber optic lights flash a rainbow around The Rink at PPG Place.

M.A. Ogg, right, is joined by members of her third-grade class from St. Cyril of Alexandria School in Brighton Heights as they take photographs of classmates yesterday during a visit to the the ice rink at PPG Place, Downtown. (John Beale, Post-Gazette)

Its managers promise it will be ready Tuesday for opening ceremonies featuring Olympic champion figure skater Brian Boitano, the Penguins' Mario Lemieux and Steelers hall of famer Lynn Swann.

Warm, rainy weather kept the ice from being ready for a media try out yesterday. But reporters and photographers got the grand tour of the skate shop in Four PPG Place and Cool Beans next door, where skaters and observers can warm up with coffee or hot chocolate.

Hillman Co., which dreamed up and financed the project, won't say how much the rink cost, but said no public money was involved.

Because of its square shape and the Christmas tree at the center, the rink appears smaller than it is. With 9,600-square-feet of ice surface -- not including the space occupied by the Christmas tree -- it is considerably larger than the 7,200-square-foot rink at New York City's Rockefeller Center.

Admission for public skating costs $5 for adults and $4 for children and senior citizens. The skate shop has nearly 450 pairs of figure and hockey skates from a child's size 9 to an adult size 12 for a $3 rental. The shop also offers lockers and restrooms for customers.

The Christmas tree not only hides the granite obelisk, it conceals speakers for a state-of-the-art sound system. But the most technically impressive part of the rink is beneath the tree. The greatest challenge was to set up ice making machinery without creating an eyesore, said Kim Schreck, lead engineer for Grubb & Ellis, which handled the technical construction.

The mammoth, bright-blue chiller is housed in an area once occupied by seven parking spaces beneath the plaza. The chiller pumps 2,000 gallons of antifreeze solution through pipes under the ice at a rate of 500 gallons per hour. It was custom-built by Burley's Rink Supply of Johnstown.

"Of course, you can't 'make cold.' We are taking the heat out and moving it someplace else," Schreck said.

The warmth extracted from the rink is being used to heat Two PPG Place. It usually takes four days to make ice, Schreck said. Because of the unseasonable weather, it is taking a few days longer.