Several years had been spent investigating a different proposal, to build a new rink beside the Molyneux Aquatic Centre, but that idea had been shelved as sufficient funding could not be gained, Ice Inline chairman Murray Miller said.
The Vincent Community Board (VCB) had committed up to $1.5million towards the $4.5million proposal and would have recouped the money through electricity savings and heat expelled during the cooling of the rink would have been used to heat the pool.
However, the rest of the required funding had not been gained from other funders, which meant that project could not proceed, and an alternative proposal had instead been developed, Mr Miller said.
The new two-stage project had been partly spurred by the rink’s 25-year plant "starting to give out", Mr Miller said.
A new plant will now be installed at the rink this winter, and 20cm piping installed between the rink and the swimming pool. Water that cooled the refrigerant in the plant and became hot would then be piped to the pool and used to help heat it, Mr Miller said.
The VCB would then gather and analyse data from the heat transfer this winter and probably next winter, before deciding whether to help fund stage two of the project, which was to put a roof over the rink, hopefully two winters from now, he said.
Mr Miller said it was "great" to have a new plant on the way, and he hoped the proposal to cover the rink would go ahead, too.
"Finally, there’s a bit of light at the end of the tunnel."
The plant and piping will cost $970,000, and Ice Inline has received $650,000 from the VCB, $150,00 from the CLT and $130,000 from the Otago Community Trust.
It also pre-bought Canadian currency — when the New Zealand dollar was high — to pay for the Canadian plant, and had saved about $30,000 by doing that, Mr Miller said.
The plant is being built in Canada by Accent Refrigeration Systems and shipped to New Zealand in a container. The plant will remain in the container, which will become the plant room.
Fundraising would be done to cover any shortfall in the project, Mr Miller said.
He said the old plant would be used for the beginning of the season and it was hoped the new plant would arrive soon afterwards and be operational by the middle of the season.
It is hoped the rink will open about May 17.
