The Border Ice Rink was the brainchild of local farmer Willie Wilson. Willie who sadly died in 1998 was a
past president of the Royal Caledonian Curling Club and was the main inspiration behind the fund raising to form a company
to build the rink we all take today for granted.
The ice rink was built in 1964 and was based on the Canadian style
soft base ice pad (brine pipes bedded in loose gravel).
Border's curlers used to travel to Haymarket ice rink
in Edinburgh to curl and always dreamed of having their own rink in the Borders. Willie Wilson helped
make that dream come true.
The rink enjoyed many years of service, but the passage of time took its toll and in
1997 major upgrading set the rink up for the new millennium, with a new insulated concrete floor under the ice.
In
2007 the board decided it was time to initiate a programme of upgrading of the catering and bar facilities.
The
first phase was to completely strip the kitchen and cafe areas and replace the dated equipment with modern energy efficient
appliances. A side effect of this was the total rewiring of this area of the rink.
Included in this
first phase was the removal of the bar shutter which was becoming a health hazard due its weight.
The management
of the ice surface is all important, and with this in mind there are moves to improve the quality of curling ice.
Pebbling is done with warm de-ionised water to create a harder surface.
Scraping of the ice is an art and the
rink have invested in a new model Ice King cutting machine (first of this model to come into the UK). This
will be installed at the end of the 2008-09 season for training and will be the main unit in the future.
The current project of upgrading the old freezing plant to the new refrigerant is complete which brings both units
into legal compliance in terms of removing the old R22 gas. This was not a cheap exorcise but one that would only
get more expensive with the demand for the new refrigerant increasing.
The next phase of building
upgrade will be the the ceiling, lighting, carpets, decor and furniture in the clubroom. It is
hoped to schedule this into the short term plans, but during the current climate it would be safer to consolidate.
