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��' �: � � �� k�r� � r� d � ��c�rmati�� The John Rose Minnesota OVAL opened in 1993 and was built in pa�l�taersk�ip with the State of Minnesota. The OVAL, a 10,000 square foot, outdoor activity area that features the largest outdoor, refrigerated ice surface in North America and an expanse of paved open space for skateboarding, i�1in� skating and biking, is truly a unique community amenity. Over the past 13 years, the OVAL has hosted numerous local, regional, national and international ice events and has established itself as one of five premier speedskating and bandy facilities in the United States. Six Olympic Speedsktaing Gold Medal winners from the recent Turino Games currentlyhold track records at the OVAL. In early 2004, OVAL staff began to experience maintenance issues as they prepared far the February 2004 World Junior Speedskating Championships. Staff warked tirelesslyto maintain the chiller and provide the best passiiile ice surface for this long anticipatedworld championship event. The local organizing committee and participating skaters, coaches and international dignitaries were pleased with the outcome of the event and unaware of how close the facilitywas to becoming another one of Minnesota's famous 10,0001akes. April — December 2004 OVAL staff, parks and recreation administrators and local refrigeration experts began to evaluate the refrigeration system as soon as the facility closed for the season. Staff and experts spent months researching, testing and strategizing on chiller repairs, maintenance staff worked to test the floor tubing system and searched for leaks. The news was not good, the chiller was working at a capacity far below expectations due to corrosion and system malfunctions and there was possible leak somewhere in the 85 miles of concrete embedded piping that distributes the chilled brine solution to the 10,000 square foot ice surface. Staff used the latest technologies available to evaluate and inspect the floor with no success. As a last hope, staff acted on the advice of engineering and refrigeration experts to begin a slow and methodical dig at the most susceptible area, the digging resulted in the discovery of a leak outside of the embedded piping. Staff exposed the damage and was successfully fixed by in-house technicians. The OVAL was a regular and ongoing agenda item for Parks and Recreation Commission and Roseville City Council beginning in Apri12004. Staff kept Commission Members, Council Members and Community Members informed on what was being discovered and what was being done. Originally, it was thought that the chiller could be repaired by plugging the 13 tubes that were identified with leaks. Initial tests showedpressure levels being maintained and all parties involvedwere optimistic that the problem had been solved. Unfortunately, the chiller began to once again show potential for unstable pressure levels. Bxper�s advised assessing the existing condition of the unit before deciding whether or not the chiller had "outlived its usefullife." As a last effort, the local speedskating organization donated the �unds needed to bring in a highly reputable east coast company to perform Remote Field testing involving high pressure hydro lancing and an electro magnet inspection to assess the wall thickness of a11900 tubes. Reports from the national inspectors and consultants was increasingly disappointing, corrosion was much more extensive than anticipated resulting in leaks throughout the system. Staff presented a series of options that included everything from a complete mechanical system replacement down to a natural ice season with minimal staffing and reduced revenue potentials, Council discussed all potentials ophc�nsJsolutio�s and decided in September of 2004 to operate the upcoming ice season as a natural ice facility and further explore and evaluate the OVAL maintenance situation and overall Skating Center operations. In mid December 2004, the OVAL opened with natural ice at the mercy of the weather. 2006 MRPA Award of Excellence Roseville Skating Center/OVAL Task Force