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Skating Rink Renovation is on a Roll!

by Judy Stearns

The weather cooperated for the groundbreaking for Phase 1 renovations of the Purcellville Skating Rink on the town-owned Fireman's Field property. The ceremony had been delayed twice because of the blizzard the area experienced. Town Council members Joan Lehr, Tom Priscilla, Jim "Doc" Wiley and "CJ" Walker wielded the ceremonial gold shovels outside the construction area. Lehr said, "I am glad it's getting done so we can continue with the events we want to have here." Town Manager Rob Lohr said, "Baseball is in a couple of weeks. We will open in July before the Babe Ruth World Series begins that the Town and County co-sponsor." Phase 1 is expected to be completed by June and Phase 2 completed by July.

Town Director of Public Works, Samer Beidas, allowed the small group inside to take a tour and ask questions. On hand were: General Contractor Harry A. Braswell; some of the SWSG design consultant team, Debbie Robison (Project Manager and historic preservation specialist) and Ted Welti, (Structural Engineer) as well as Robert Cashin (Project Manager), Mike Louvet and "Gator" Galbraith ((Branch Manager) from MBP, the project management group.

Before the Town purchased Fields Farm in the spring of 2008, an assessment was done that indicated the rink needed a new roof. A design structural inspection was done in June 2009 to look at replacing the old roof, but it turned out that it was more serious. The roof was found to have sagging ridge beams that, as Robison said, give the roof a pagoda shape. Also, the support structure had serious deficiencies and the building was deemed unsafe. The Town closed the rink immediately and proceeded with the procurement of emergency services. Work began in February.

The rink is not on a slab but has a large crawl space (under floor columns). The rot is being extracted and filled with epoxy. That is where the majority of the work was being done on the day of the groundbreaking; literally from the ground up. Supports were placed in the interior of the rink. More than a new roof is necessary. The old shingle roof will be removed and a steel inner roof put in place with insulation between it and the new standing seam metal roof. The galvanized roof will reflect those from the 1930s and will be dove gray in color, also representative of that period.

The original interestingly-designed interior roof rafters are exposed after the drop ceiling was removed. The plan is to leave them for all to admire.

The bid from Braswell came in at $507,000, about half the estimated cost of around $1 million. Phase 2 bids were to be received from the Town this week, and the contract awarded will be for work on air conditioning, electrical, bathrooms, fire alarms, sprinklers and lights.

For information on the history of the rink (originally Bush Tabernacle) go to www.novahistory.org and click on Purcellville Bush Meeting Auditorium.