The Bill Copeland Arena opened three days earlier than expected after a fire on Dec. 8 caused the facility to close.
Speaking with the NOW last week, the director of parks, recreation and cultural services was optimistic the arena would be up and running by Monday. Turns out staff had other ideas, and the arena reopened on Friday, Dec. 19.
"(It) was a combination of luck and really great work by the arena people and the recreation division," Dave Ellenwood told the NOW.
Staff tracked down a portable icemaker, which was about to be decommissioned, and are in the process of hooking it up to the arena's system. The portable equipment will remain in place until a replacement part arrives. Without the portable icemaker, Ellenwood said the arena would have likely been closed for six to eight weeks.
"It would have taken six to eight weeks to manufacture those. We would have tried to speed up that timeline if we had to do that," he said.
The annual fundraiser and hockey tournament, the Burnaby Bantam Holiday Classic, will go ahead as scheduled.
"We'll have all sheets available and they shouldn't skip a beat," Ellenwood added.
