One of the legacies of the Canada Winter Games is a dull, throbbing case of civic embarrassment. The discomfort grows when standing on the west side of the CN Centre complex.
That is where the ice is shiny and tight this week, after it turned too soft to hold the long track speed skating events for the Games, requiring organizers to implement Plan B, a sudden trip to Fort St. John's year-round indoor oval.
Some of the initial races were held on the Prince George outdoor sheet, so oval officials can forever say they have a Canada Winter Games facility. However, it caused disruptions and inconvenience to ship the remainder of the event out of town and it exposed a social infrastructure nerve that has been raw for years.
In spite of ample input from the Outoor Ice Oval Society that installing a refrigeration unit at the track would be a municipal asset, it was met with dragging feet. Those feet dragged and stumbled a full 440 kilometres to the northeast when only a few cooler degrees would have kept the races in Prince George.
"All the skaters wanted to stay here. All the skaters wanted to compete outside," said Noah Ferguson, a 19-year-old Nova Scotia competitor just prior to his departure for the indoor facility. "It's hard on the parents, to have their kids take off to another town for their competitions. And we don't get to be with all the other athletes in Games Village."
Ferguson's brother Barrett was also competing at the Games, in the short track event. It would have been only 100 metres between the two, but instead they were fully removed from each other.
When their home province hosted the Canada Winter Games in 2011, the relatively temperate seaside city of Halifax had no trouble hosting the nation on an outdoor long track oval, because it had artificial refrigeration.
"I've heard those conversations about Prince George. I remember when the oval was basically in a different spot every year, and a short season at best," said Mike Marshall, who grew up with his brothers in a Prince George Blizzard Speed Skating Club uniform.
They are arguably the most successful speed skating family in Canadian history, when he, Kevin and Neal add up all their personal Olympic appearances plus all the medals won by the athletes they later coached.
"I know it would be a great thing for the Prince George area to have a refrigerated oval. You don't need it to be covered. It would really develop athletes, and if they put a couple of family skating and hockey spaces in the middle, you would have an amazing facility for the whole family. The whole city would benefit from that."
Kathy Lewis is the Outdoor Ice Oval Society president and one of the leading volunteers for the speed skating aspects of the 2015 Canada Winter Games. She said the idea, to be of maximum public value, would best include the hockey/family skating surfaces inside the oval, which would require puck-catching nets and a connecting tunnel to keep the oval skaters and inner skaters from crossing paths. The two types of ice users cannot coexist, based on past experiences, unless there are physical separations.
These are not deal-breaking impediments. Other places have these systems. When research was done a few years ago on what the whole upgrade would cost, the price tag came back at a vague $3 million to $6 million. Lewis shook her head on what actual amounts might be.
"It would have to be costed out in real detail, and then you'd have to look at what could be donated in materials, labour, equipment, sponsorships and grants...," she said. "We do know for sure that high-level speed skating events would come here, if we had dependable ice, which means money back into the local economy. There would be very good return on the investment. And we know for sure our athletes would benefit."
The head of Speed Skating Canada, Jim Allison, said with almost all of the Outdoor Ice Oval infrastructure already in place, Prince George stood to benefit significantly if that final piece was put in place to allow for dependable ice and thus solid ability to attract major events. Snow and air temperatures could be contended with, he said. It was the ice conditions that were vital.
"I would say to people in Prince George: go look at what they have in Halifax," he said. "That oval is extremely popular. All kinds of people skate there every day. It is free, and it is available for the whole community. It's not about creating Olympians - although that is a very real goal to set - it is about creating a healthy society. My kids have come to Prince George to race for years, and now with these Games you have really put yourself on the national map. You have done a great job hosting. You have a great facility here, with the great short track rink (the international-sized Lakewood Dental Arena) and a great outdoor oval. You have volunteers who are dedicated and really skilled at this. Let's have more events here.
"All across Canada we take that chance on the weather, there are very few ovals that can offer dependability, so if you are one of those places you will be in a wonderful position to win those bids for our events. Is it possible for Prince George to host national senior-level speed skating events? Absolutely it is. This city has proven that. So I would urge you to look at that oval option very optimistically."
What helps the case for refrigeration is the presence of almost every other part of a successful, competitive outdoor ice oval.
Knowing the big price tag for tunnels, underground piping, pavement, etc., the operating society took care of more immediate things like lighting, fencing, surfacing machines, the recessing of the whole facility deep in its earthen bowl, the new equipment shed built for the Games, and the impending donation from Canfor of a dressing-room facility (Canfor's information shed currently on-site at Canada Games Plaza will be moved to the oval after the close of competitions).
