Wichita City Council members have approved the the rental of a chiller unit for use at the Wichita Ice Center.  The move will allow the facility to provide practice sessions for a regional figure skating event that is taking place this week.

U.S. Figure Skating is having its 2024 Midwestern Synchronized Skating Sectional Championships from Wednesday through Saturday at INTRUST Bank Arena.   The competition will attract more than 100 teams, 1,000 athletes and more than 200 coaches and team personnel to Wichita.

The Ice Center would provide its two ice rinks for practice sessions, but there have been delays in getting a new chiller barrel to have both rinks in operation.  The city has been renting a temporary chiller for one rink, and the action taken Tuesday will allow for the rental of a second chiller.  The maximum cost for renting the second unit and extending rental of the existing unit was expected to be over $378,000.    Aaron Henning with the city’s public works department told the council that the shipping time has been cut by more than half in getting the new chiller barrel, and it’s expected to be shipped late this week.   He said that will reduce the total cost by $140,000 to $160,000 in providing for two rinks.   He said the faster shipment of the new chiller barrel will put the Ice Center back to two permanent rinks in early March.