CAROLINA COLISEUM STAGE DEPARTMENT & CHANGEOVER CREW

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HOCKEY ICE FLOOR ALBUM

This is our photo and written journal of the ice floor coming into our arena September 2001, January 2002, and September 2002.

Also documented in photos is the "miracle" changeovers from January 2002. We went from the Circus into ice, set basketball up on top of it (within 48 hours) to take it to hockey 24 hours after that.

Now, September 2002 the ice floor comes in again however this time it will remain in place through the spring.

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Week 1 work begins on bleachers. Steel plates arriving for Greene St. bleachers. August 7-8-9, 2001.


Hockey items start to arrive here at the building for the season - gycol, pumps and tank.

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Week 2 August 13-14-16, 2001
Blossom St. bleachers get the retro fit.

Homosote shows up- yes it's used if you can't tell from the photos...

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Week 3 August 20-21-22-23, 2001
Assembly St. bleachers are started on.
Assembly St. bleacher steel still being worked on
Aug. 30-31 as well as September 4.

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Week 4 Aug.27 Assembly St. gets finished and Park St. is begun (atleast by the bleacher crew).

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WEEK 5 SEPTEMBER 4, 2001
Still trying to finish up the steel on Assembly St. bleachers. And still working on Park St. decks. Still
drilling holes in the steel plates.

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WEEK 5 SEPTEMBER 10-14

FINISHING UP ON PARK ST. REMOVE THE DECKS AND TRACKS FROM ARENA. SEPARATE ALL THE TRACKS FROM STEEL DECKS IN AREAS THAT THE ICE WILL NOT BE INSTALLED.

SEPTEMBER 15 - DAY 1 OF ICE IN
REMOVE ALL STEEL PLATES FROM TRENCH AND INSTALL 2 HOSES FROM THE OUTSIDE COMPRESSOR TO THE HEADER PIPE IN THE ARENA.

WEEK 6
SEPTEMBER 17 - 22
ice dam installed, coils laid, sand spread, insulation laid out, watering, dasher walls up, watering, players boxes, pentality boxes...

WEEK 7
SEPTEMBER 23-28
Watering shifts, peel dasher decals, wait for glass- it arrives on the 26th to be installed on the 27th.

Sometime after 2pm on January 28,2002 the dirt crew arrives from Hartsville and begins shoveling out the dirt.

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Sometime after 3pm the first scheduled watering shift can actually get some work done.

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Regular watering shifts began at 2pm January 28 and went around the clock until January 30 @ 11pm (the last one ended at).

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At 12am January 31 the basketball in begins.

The homosote/prodeck comes into the arena
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The riggers put the lights back up
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as the floor is covered.

A completed covered section of floor (ice).
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Now the plywood arrives. This will assist in
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leveling the floor so the steel with sit properly.

Park St is now covered with plywood so it's time
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to start laying steel.

This is Assembly St. steel but you get the idea.
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Park St. steel going in (viewed from a distance).
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The basketball floor carts arrive. Yes, they are
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brought out onto the floor by manual means.

The first row of floor is laid and the night is
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almost over.

Now the basketball game is done so it's time to return to hockey and finish making the ice.

This series of pictures begins about 2- 3 hours into the call.

With the basketball floor out of the way
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the homosote comes up.

Hockey gear returns to the arena. The uprights
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for the glass is one of first carts in.

Dashers and glass completes the hockey
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rink supplies.

Now that most of the dashers are in, the
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glass crew begins.

After the walls are up but before the glass comes
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in it all has to be level and flush.

With glass going in the suites are set up and
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it's almost time to go home.

THE CIRCUS LEAVES AND WE CLEAN UP THE MESS TO BEGIN THE ICE IN ORDEAL.
JANUARY 28, 2002 @ 12AM IT BEGINS.

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First the steel decks go in for the bleachers and basketball.

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The ice dam goes in. It's tough work.

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As soon as the first radius steel is passed the styrofoam begins going down. Then the plastic covers the top.

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Around 6am the coils begin to come inside from across the street. The forklift brings them in and the crew unrolls the coils.

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THE ICE FLOOR RETURNS SEPTEMBER 2002

September 12- the movers bring back some of the hockey rink.

September 13- at 8am we unload all the dasher wall carts so the walls are ready for Sunday. Then the ice dam goes in and 90% of the styrofoam is laid before the day ends at 5pm.

September 14- the styrofoam is finished, plastic is laid and the rest of the day is spent bringing coils in, laying them out, and attaching half of the header pipe. Another 8am - 5pm day.

September 15- a 9am start brings the last coil to be unrolled, the attachment of the turn-around bin on Assembly St., the attachment of the rest of the header and eventually the walls go in on the sides. The day ends well after 6pm and there are plenty of leaks to go around.

September 16- The dirt crew arrives in the morning and sped all day shoveling dirt. At 6pm the first watering shift starts and a relief crew comes in at 1am.

September 17- an 8am player box riser rebuild is brought to s screaching hault by Lowe's NOT delivering the lumber when promised. NO risers where built today nor any wood cut. The 8am watering crew got to relevel the sand and do some flooding. 5pm - 12am brought another flooding shift.

September 18 - 12am brings the last flooding shift before the ice is painted/sprayed white. At 8am pjlayers box risers will be built, the remaining walls will go in and hopefully the risers will be installed into the boxes today.

Page created August 24, 2001

Updated September 18, 2002


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With the mercury rising, workers prepare Coliseum for icy future
By Chris Horn

In the middle of a steamy August, workers are transforming the floor of the Carolina Coliseum into what will become a frozen hockey rink.

The Columbia Inferno is set to open its first season in the East Coast Hockey League Oct. 12. The team's owners, Columbia Hockey LLC, are paying for the nearly $1 million in renovations to the Coliseum, where the Inferno will play until the University's new arena is completed.

"This arena was designed with sightlines for basketball, not hockey, so it's not a natural fit," said Sid Kenyon,Coliseum operations manager. "We can make it work, but it won't be simple."

To make hockey work in the Coliseum, workers have installed a 300-ton-capacity cooling system that will maintain the ice rink. They also are modifying the first rows of retractable bleachers to accommodate an arena floor that will be several inches taller with insulation, coolant piping, and a layer of ice for the hockey rink.

Nearly 60 tons of steel rails will be laid in place to pull the bleachers out over the ice every time a men's or women's basketball game will be played. That extra step will increase the set-up time significantly, from the current four hours to as many as 12 or more. The hockey team's owners will cover the expenses of the extra prep time, Kenyon said.

"There could be some occasions when a hockey game concludes on a Friday evening and work crews would have to work through the night to convert the arena for a basketball game the next day," Kenyon said.

About 40 hockey games and 35 men's and women's basketball games will be played in the Coliseum this fall, winter, and spring. "This December will be the first time we've ever had commencement ceremonies on top of an ice rink," Kenyon said.

When events such as basketball or commencement are held, a layer of insulation will be pulled over the ice rink to protect it. Dehumidifiers will be placed in the Coliseum rafters to reduce condensation that often develops because of the ice, Kenyon said. Periodically, the rink will be allowed to thaw out so that the floor of the arena and the ground underneath don't freeze.

While Columbia Hockey LLC will bear all of the costs of the Coliseum renovation, USC will keep all revenue from concession sales and parking associated with the hockey games. Those monies typically are used to fund academic scholarships.


From the USC Times,August 23, 2001 issue.
http://www.sc.edu/USC-Times/coliseumice.html