T
he weather can change any number of times on a fall afternoon in Milwaukee, but inside the Pettit National Ice Center, 500 S. 84th St., the temperature is almost always a dry and cool 55 degrees.
To keep the mercury steady in both the air and, more importantly, on the surface of its 400-meter Olympic oval, the facility employs a complex system of pumps and pipes that keep the glass-like surface of the ice hovering between 5 and 15 degrees Fahrenheit.
The Pettit is one of only two Olympic-sized indoor speed skating ovals in the U.S. When it opened in 1993, it was the first built in the country. The Pettit has hosted the past two U.S. Speedskating Olympic team trials, in 2022 and 2018.
The center opened for public skating earlier this month and expects to see about 2,000 people on the ice every day this winter.
“We participate in every ice sport that exists, outside of sled hockey,” says general manager Paul Golomski. “We host curling, figure skating, synchronized skating and short-track speed skating.”
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- During the busy season, ice technician Patrick Rakowski will resurface the ice four times a day. The Zamboni cuts and washes the existing ice, adding a new layer of the frozen stuff with each pass.
- On the far wall of the Pettit sits one of the largest ice rink refrigeration plants in the country with 20 circulating pumps and eight different compressors, made in Cudahy.
- Inside the refrigeration room, glycol and ammonia used to cool the ice are circulated in a maze of hulking pipes.
- The Pettit’s rink is cooled by 30,000 gallons of glycol circulating in hundreds of small pipes that lay just below the ice. The ice is warmer than glycol, so its heat is transferred into the glycol to keep it from melting.
- The whole heat transfer system is powered by a wall of Allen-Bradley-made motors that run on giant fuses the size of your hand.
