Stellar Completes First Rink Renovation at Centennial Ice Arena

HIGHLAND PARK, Ill. (October 19, 2020) — Stellar, a fully integrated firm focused on design, engineering, construction and refrigeration services worldwide, has completed its renovation of the ice rink at Centennial Ice Arena in Highland Park.

The $1.8 million renovation included the installation of a new ice sheet floor system, as well as the demolition and replacement of the old refrigeration room with a new system utilizing Chemours Opteon™ solution, the official refrigerant of the National Hockey League (NHL).

The ice sheet floor system was designed in collaboration with I.B. Storey, the NHL’s preferred ice rink consultant.

“We are thrilled to announce the completion of Stellar’s first ice rink renovation project,” said Jose Mergulhao, PE, Director of Business Development at Stellar. “Our decades of industrial refrigeration knowledge combined with Stellar’s growing number of ice rink industry experts and industry partnerships allow us to serve the ice rink market in a unique way. This marks the beginning of successful Stellar ice rink projects to come.”

Centennial Ice Arena is a single-sheet ice rink facility owned by the Park District of Highland Park. In addition to serving as a practice and competition location for local hockey teams and ice skaters, the arena also features a fully equipped gymnastics studio.

“The collaboration between the Park District, Stellar, and I.B. Story was invaluable throughout the renovation. Completing a project of this nature during a pandemic was challenging. However, they were managed professionally and efficiently by Stellar and I.B. Storey,” said Chris Maliszewski, Assistant Director of Recreation and Facilities of the Park District of Highland Park. “The positive impact of having a brand new refrigeration system for Centennial Ice Arena not only ensures we will be able to meet the needs of the skating and hockey community in Highland Park for many years to come, but also showcases the Park District of Highland Park’s commitment to environmental stewardship.”

Stellar served as the construction manager and general contractor for the rink floor remediation. The firm installed a new ice sheet floor system in addition to demolishing and replacing the accompanying refrigeration system with an NHL-preferred Chemours Opteon™ solution.

The ice sheet floor system designed by I.B. Storey allowed for a faster installation time and reduced floor remediation costs by about $400,000. Since Centennial Ice is a single sheet facility, Stellar stuck to an ambitious three-month project schedule to minimize the amount of time the facility’s business was halted.

“We designed Centennial’s plant and floor system to provide the best quality ice in compliance with Sustainable Ice Rink Principles for long term viability of the ice rink while minimizing the center’s project schedule,” said Ian Storey, President of I.B. Storey. “In doing so, we also saved the Park District of Highland Park, which owns the facility, a considerable amount of money both now and in future operating costs that can be potentially put towards other projects benefiting the community.”

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the design, bidding and negotiations were completed over virtual meetings. Stellar limited the number of team members sent to the Centennial Ice Arena during the project to mitigate the inherent risks involved with travelling and possibly exposing onsite crew members.

Centennial Ice Arena is located at 3100 Trail Way in Highland Park.