The heat goes On... it is time to make ice

Press, 9 February 1989, Page 7

The heat goes On... it is time to make ice

By

SUZANNE KEEN

Strollers through North Hagley Park in the coming weeks will discover that it takes more than a pair of great performers to make an ice-skating show that nobody will forget. Ice is needed for the skaters, seating is needed for the audience, and a lot of people are required to pull the whole thing together. Work began yesterday on the site of Torvill and Dean’s Christchurch show. Eight 24m metal tent poles and miles of cables were laid out on the grass, ready to be pulled upright this morning. A director of the company organising the show, Mr Ken Bullen, of Sydney, said the huge poles were too big to fit in a shipping container and had to be transported from Wellington in trucks. About 600 tonnes of equipment is due at Lyttelton today in 40 containers. This includes the 95m by 67m tent, and the

ice making, sound and lighting equipment. Mr Bullen said the tent could hold 6000, and was bigger than the one used by Torvill and Dean the last time they visited Christchurch. It was designed in Christchurch and first used in England 3y 2 years ago. Since then it has followed the skating stars round the world. Workers will not start making the ice until the tent goes up on Tuesday. Water is run through a cooling system on to the rink for several days until there is at least 7.5 cm of ice. About 200 staff will be working on the show, including some hired in New Zealand. Mr Bullen said 10 staff would stay at the site to look after equipment, although vandalism was not usually a problem. Torvill and Dean are now performing in Australia. Their Christchurch show opens on February 23.