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SFCC's High-Maintenance Ice Rink Is No Waltz

Kathy Waters/Highlands Today

South Florida Community College students from the air conditioning and refrigeration technology class examine on Monday the ice rink that was created at the auditorium.

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By MANDY SHEETS | Highlands Today

Published: December 11, 2007

AVON PARK — When the curtain rises at South Florida Community College University Auditorium today, the stage will look much different than usual; it has been transformed into an ice rink for two sold-out performances of "The Nutcracker on Ice."

The Artist Series show features 35 champion ice skaters, including Russian stars of the St. Petersburg State Ice Ballet, music from Tchaikovsky's "Nutcracker", more than 150 beautiful costumes and a 1,728 square-foot ice rink.

"This show is a real novelty because of the elaborate costume changes and choreography, plus an ice rink in Central Florida definitely has an appeal," said Doug Andrews, dean of cultural programs. "The tickets have been selling like hotcakes — we've been sold out for a week now."

The show is one of the most labor-intensive SFCC hosts in terms of preparation.

"Ice shows are always a major challenge because there are so many variables and it takes so much time to do it," said Bil Kovacs, technical director for SFCC. "We have such a good reaction that it's worth it."

Most shows take about five hours to set up and tear down, but this one requires more than 36 hours of preparation.

The process started at 2 p.m. Sunday when crews arrived and began unloading equipment. They then laid a layer of polyethylene film and constructed a grid-like frame over it from tubes filled with coolant.

About 5 p.m. Sunday, 6,000 pounds of crushed ice arrived in 50-pound bags, which crews spread throughout the 36-by-48-foot frame and leveled with rakes, providing the foundation for the ice rink.

From then until the curtain rises, someone is on hand "babysitting" the ice. For the first 24 hours, it has to be sprayed about every 30 minutes, which helps to level the ice and increase its thickness.

"You can see where the water forms puddles and that's because it's not quite even," said John Snow, technical assistant for SFCC, as he sprayed the ice with a garden hose. "Each time we do this, it evens the ice and builds it up a little more until it's ready."

Govindah Ramnarain, energy management specialist at SFCC, worked the overnight shift, from 7 p.m. Sunday to 3:30 a.m. Monday, watering the ice every half hour and monitoring the chiller, which keeps the coolant at about 12 degrees.

"We basically have a big air conditioner sitting outside that keeps the rink cool," Ramnarain said, referring to the chiller.

If that fails, it would only take about an hour for the ice to turn back into water, so Ramnarain has to be on call for any troubleshooting.

Once the ice reaches a depth of five inches it has to be leveled and maintained until the skaters take the ice for an 11 a.m. performance for local elementary school students and the 7:30 p.m. Artists Series show.

"The ice is our number one priority for this show," Kovacs said. "If the ice melts, everyone has a red face, and it's not from the cold. With no ice, we have no show, so we keep a close eye on it."

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