The cost of the arena was fantastic at the time – $ 110,000, the arena housed 4,000 people. Three days later, the brothers opened a second Patrick ice arena in Vancouver, Canada. The cost of the arena was even higher – $ 210,000, but this scene could have been contain more than 10,000 people. Especially for this purpose was created the largest refrigerator in the world. During the following decades the brothers, Patrick, have created hundreds of ice arenas in the northwest U.S. and western Canada. Today, the U.S.
operates more than 1,700 ice arenas. The cost of modern ice rinks can be tens or hundreds of millions of dollars. In the refrigeration unit is used to create the ice arena or ice rink uses the same principle as in an ordinary air conditioner or refrigerator. However, the main difference is that the refrigerant (refrizhirant) refrigeration system is not in direct contact with water (ice) is not affects the water / ice directly. Instead, to sub-zero temperatures, a special solution is cooled (this may be a solution of calcium chloride, propylene glycol, or 32-40% alcohol solution dvumolekulyarnogo – ethylene glycol) which, passing under pressure through a complex system of tubes (mat – the base drum only) allows you to create and maintain the ice at the arena.
The system of mats, the foundations of the roller can be made of steel or plastic tubing. For seasonal rink mat system is typically installed on a sand-based or similar ground-based. In most stationary roller system of tubes (the rink mat) is installed on a concrete or sand base (about below). Long before the hockey and figure skating have become Olympic sports, ice skating was possible only in winter. In Northern Europe, winter lasts longer, and they have always had a certain advantage. The question arose: What about countries with a warm or temperate climate? Hockey and figure skating have become massive and professional sport only after the closed ice arenas, which worked round year.