The Elder Statesmen of the PG Ice Oval

By Kelly Sharp

Dick Voneugen and Keith Taylor  prepare for flood of PG ice oval 

The 2 Prince George seniors look over the gleaming ice surface on the outdoor oval.

“Another 3 hours we should be able to flood again,” Dick Voneugen said.

“Make it 4 hours,” Keith Taylor remarked.

The cooler temperature once again launched the 2 seventy-four year-olds into restoring the ice oval for public use.

 For the eighth consecutive year Dick Voneugen and Keith Taylor have spearheaded a core of volunteers who help blade, sweep and flood the 400 metre oval.

The Outdoor Ice Oval committee was initially formed as a branch of the Prince George Iceman Society, organizers of the popular multi-sport family event.

“We use to borrow a trailer with a 1,000 gallon tank, it had a mind of its own,” laughed Voneugen as he recalled the early challenges of flooding the oval.

Grants from the city of Prince George helped the OIC committee upgrade equipment. Voneugen purchased a 5 ton dump truck, Taylor – a former logger, provided the tank, extra water sprinklers were installed and the water truck was in operation.

The thaw-freeze trend of Prince George winters is an ongoing frustration when attempting to keep the outdoor ice oval open. This year the oval has been open for 11 days and closed for 11 days. The answer to a weather dependent outdoor ice oval is within walking distance of the present oval located beside CN Centre.

The City of Prince George has designated 8 acres behind the Kin Centre for excavation of an oval with refrigeration piping connected to the refrigeration plant adjacent to the Kin Centre.

“To think ice skating outdoors from the end of October to mid-April would be possible,” said Vonuegen a member of the Outdoor Ice Oval Society, the driving force behind plans for a year round facility to accommodate outdoor ice skating and in-line skating.

 A fundraising price tag of eight million dollars is projected for the recreation venue. The second phase of the OIOS plan includes a hockey rink. Vonuegen and Taylor, the elder statesmen of the Prince George outdoor ice oval, frequently talk about how a refrigerated ice surface would be such perfect lifestyle fit for a winter community like Prince George.

 In the meantime, weather and volunteer permitting, the present outdoor ice oval attracts all ages. Skaters glide around the oval while a pickup hockey game develops on the infield.

“I especially get a kick out of all the kids smiling,” Keith Taylor said.

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