Wednesday, June 12, 2002
GIANT POUR "THE BUILDING OF AN ICE FLOOR"
The biggest GIANT Center milestone to date, the GIANT POUR!
Hershey, PA - The foundation of the floor is composed of layers
of limestone, sand, piping and concrete. The final thickness of the
entire floor is over two feet. The concrete itself will be eight inches
thick and is poured all at one time, taking approximately ten hours
to complete. From one end to the other, the floor has to be level
within an eighth of an inch (the thickness of a nickel). This is accomplished
by using sophisticated laser equipment. It will take 430 cubic yards
of concrete to complete; filling a total of 43 cement trucks and enough
concrete to make an average size sidewalk one-mile long.
The finished floor is approximately 85’ by 200’ and contains
over 7 miles of welded steel pipe used to cool the floor to 18 degrees
Fahrenheit. Once completed, the ice surface for hockey is only one
inch thick. This can be covered with an insulated floor to have concerts,
shows or sporting events. There are even special anchors placed into
the concrete for Ringling Bros. Barnum & Bailey's visit for their
circus equipment.
The companies involved in the process of building the floor are:
• General Installer: Commercial Refrigeration Inc., Alberta,
Canada
• Concrete Supplier: Pennsy Supply, Harrisburg,PA
• Concrete Finisher: Macri Concrete, Dillsburg,PA
The entire ice floor system has been designed to be the very best,
and even though the HERSHEYPARK Arena was built over 65 years ago,
much of this new system mirrors it. HERSHEY has set high standards
regarding HERSHEYPARK Arena's ice system and as a result has been
known throughout the American Hockey League for having the best ice
surface in the League. GIANT Center will also maintain this tradition
setting its goals for this high quality.
For more information, please contact:
Vikki Hultquist
HERSHEYPARK Sports & Entertainment Group
phone: 717-534-3816
cell: 717-648-9888
Vhultquist@HersheyPA.com
# # #
Copyright 2002 Hershey Entertainment & Resorts Company. HERSHEY,
HERSHEYPARK and HERSHEY BEARS are trademarks used under license.
