With installation of new rink boards this week, Pad A at the Centre Wellington Sportsplex will start to look a little more like a hockey rink again.
The pad has been under construction for weeks - at times open to the outside, the boards and glass gone, the arena floor stripped to bare dirt.
It's all part of a $2.4 million restoration and upgrade to the mid-1970s era arena, its mechanical systems, change rooms and washrooms.
The project was approved for federal-provincial funding during the government's economic stimulus spending push, that split the cost in thirds between levels of government. The township's third was funded from OLG Slots revenue.
When the project is finished this fall, Pad A will have a state-of-the-art refrigeration system, improved energy efficiency, redesigned dressing rooms that include two which will be fully accessible, and a fresh, bright paint scheme.
"We're on time, on budget, and come hockey season, we'll have an upgraded facility," parks and recreation director Andy Goldie said last week, when the News Express got a tour of the site.
Sections of the old roof have been fixed, solving leak problems.
Work also began on change rooms early enough for some teams to use the renovated versions - and their comments have been very positive, Goldie says.
The rooms have new benches, brighter and energy efficient lighting, and a white-over-blue colour scheme that's a drastic change from the original striped colour scheme topped by purple and red ductwork.
The interiors have been redesigned to move the shower entrances to the back of the room away from the main door, as well as other small improvements. In the barrier-free change rooms, the washroom area has been enlarged to meet wheelchair turning guidelines, and an accessible shower area has been added at the back.
The home team dressing rooms have been rebuilt to create more space for the Devils on game or practice nights, while maintaining a "gender room" space for other teams.
The old arena floor was removed, the base dug out and refilled with sand and gravel, and a new cooling system laid in. Run from a header pipe at the west (outside) end of the arena, pipes run the full length of the floor to the far end and back - one pipe every four inches.
The pipes are tied into the supports for the arena floor, which is a single pour of concrete, Goldie explained. It's left to cure to a month before the cooling plant can start.
Modern innovations make cooling the ice more energy efficient than the 1970s system. Cooling pipes run right to the edge of the ice surface, and there's a loop of cooling duct around the rim of the ice as well. That helps keep heat from the warm parts of the arena - there's a warm viewing area right behind the rink - from getting into the ice floor, which means the cooling plant doesn't have to work as hard.
Alternating start-up motors keeps wear and tear on them even, and Goldie hopes to channel heat from the machinery in the mechanical room into helping the complex's water heating system.
Some machinery in the cooling system has already been replaced in recent years - this project adds a second compressor to the system.
Renovations have been planned to "try to meet the needs of the future," Goldie said. The accessible dressing rooms, for example, could give the Sportsplex the ability to run sports like sledge hockey - and also help deal with an aging population that's staying active.
The arena floor is supposed to last for 40 years, while the cooling header piping is expected to have a 25-year life, he said.
The work has caused some disruptions, Goldie said.
The Fergus Truck Show and upcoming Scottish Festival and Highland Games have been impacted by the need to close off the west end of the Sportsplex building, which cut off a secondary entrance to the grounds. For truck show entertainment, set up near that entrance, it meant some changes to vehicle access and getting bands, crew, and staff on and off the site.
But the construction has been particularly disruptive for lacrosse teams who play during the summer.
Teams have had to move games to other towns or practice outside because the work leaves only two arena floors available in the township, Goldie said.
But sports groups were approached early and brought onside. "They've been truly understanding and supportive," he said - because for a couple of months of "short-term pain," the benefit is a renovated space to play.