OUR VIEW: Short-term arena fix is an expensive wake-up call

$52,000. That’s a lot of money to replace the refrigerant in the old “Barn,” especially since there is no guarantee this new batch of R-22 just won’t leak out again. Cloquet’s original indoor ice arena is showing its age, and the system under the floor that freezes the ice is old and in need of replacement or repair. Right now, though, all the refrigerant has leaked out and the City Council has agreed to spend the money to replace it, so we can have ice in The Barn this winter.

Refilling the system with R-22 is the easiest and quickest solution. But simply recharging the refrigerant is like adding more and more oil to a leaky old Ford truck: it may work if you don’t use the truck very much, but it’s expensive, wasteful and harmful to the environment.

In this case, the leaks were found and repaired, but the cooling system is so old it’s likely the refrigerant will just leak out again at some point. R-22 is damaging to the ozone layer, and it’s also expensive. R-22 is being phased out by the EPA, so although the demand is lower right now, it’s likely to keep getting more costly.

But continuing to find and fix leaks is expensive too. We question whether it’s a wise use of public funds to simply keep adding refrigerant, and we question whether it’s wise to spend the money to repair the freezing system in The Barn, especially knowing that it will just keep getting more and more expensive to repair and recharge the aging system.

With hockey so popular in this area, many will shout “spend the money!” to fix and upgrade the cooling plants at the ice arenas.

If that’s the direction this community grows, we’d encourage leaders to think long-term, and invest in a cooling system that is reliable, efficient, and friendly to the environment. If the estimated $3 million dollar figure is correct, we feel it’s a worthwhile long-term investment for the region … but not one that should only be borne by Cloquet property taxes.

The word, “region” is key. The two hockey arenas, ski jumps and the ski/bike and walking/running trails at Cloquet’s Pine Valley Recreation Area all draw people from around the region and even some from Canada and places like Chicago and beyond. As such, we hope the city will do everything it can to tap into regional and statewide funding sources, including grants and maybe even another half-cent sales tax. At the same time, if users want those improvements, they should also get busy fundraising and rounding up volunteers.

After all, that’s the way Pine Valley — the ski jumps, chalet and ice arenas — were all built in the first place.

We welcome your input to the Pine Knot News community newspaper. Send your thoughts, letters, or news to [email protected].