Dumfries and Galloway Council currently do not expect for the Dumfries Ice Bowl to open to the public before the end of the calendar year.
As a result of COVID-19, the Scottish Government and Sportscotland issued guidance for the opening of indoor ice rinks for curling, skating and ice hockey in August 2020.
A Council spokesperson stated “Since then, our property and estates team have been working with Mechanical & Electrical specialists, Hulley & Kirkwood to look at solutions – and then commission necessary works.
Evidence continues to suggest that, in poorly ventilated indoor spaces, airborne aerosols are a possible transmission route. This is why ventilation is an important part of mitigating against the transmission of Coronavirus (COVID-19). Advice from the Chartered Institution of Building Services Engineers (CIBSE) is to increase ventilation as much as is reasonably possible, increasing the flow of outside air and preventing any pockets of stagnant air. Recirculation of air within buildings should be avoided where possible to reduce the risk of transmission.
In an ice rink, many of the heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) strategies rely on a large proportion of recirculated air. Bringing a lot of fresh air into your building is not conducive to running an efficient system and can be very detrimental to the ice quality and performance. This is particularly the case on wetter days when external humidity is high.
So, ice rink HVAC systems are complex, and commissioning such works take time, and we won’t reopen until it is safe to do so. The safety of our customers, clubs and staff members is paramount.
Following a pressure test to assess the natural ventilation / leakage of the building, we will make changes to the HVAC systems, to allow a target of 8 litres per second per person of fresh air into the building.
We will provide a further update by the end of November 2020.”
