COOL COOL
Stamford Twin Rinks completes complex chiller
replacement as part of proactive maintenance
PROJECT IN PICTURES
S
TAMFORD TWIN RINKS is
a 29-year-old, two-sheet facility
featuring the highly respected
Prentiss Hockey Performance
Training Center on the second floor, two
restaurants, a pro shop, ballet studio, full
arcade, synthetic ice rink, and 13 locker
rooms. The facility operates 365 days a
year. Twin Rinks began its previous life
as a factory for Machlett Laboratories
in 1934. Machlett Labs was famously
one of the largest producers of X-ray
tubes, high-power broadcasting tubes,
and night-vision scopes for the military.
Benjamin Franklin once said, "An
ounce of prevention is worth a pound of
cure." Even with the best preventative
maintenance plan in place, equipment
will eventually reach the end of its service
life. That was the case with our almost
30-year-old ice plant. We knew critical
components, including the chiller barrel,
needed to be replaced proactively before a
failure occurred during peak season.
Accessing the existing chiller barrel
presented a significant challenge, causing
many contractors to walk away from the
initial bidding process. The ice plant
had originally been installed before the
building was constructed around and
over the equipment, effectively enclosing
it with no direct path for removal. To
complete the replacement, we had to
demolish a section of the rear wall and
Under Pressure
1
2
36 / SEPTEMBER.OCTOBER.2026 USICERINKS.COM
by Robert Rode, CIT
