The world's fastest ice, on borrowed time, may have a lifeline.
The Calgary Olympic Oval, a legacy of the city's 1988 Winter Games, will soon lose its ability to produce ice due to brine leaks among the 400 pipe connections beneath its 38-year-old floor.
The Oval has been a center for international, collegiate and community sports since its $40 million completion in 1987.
The World Speed Skating Championships, which runs from Friday to Sunday, will be the Oval's second in 2025 and will once again bring together the world's best in the sport.
But Canadian athletes who train there year-round are concerned about how long the aging system can last.
“We've had some pretty challenging ice conditions this summer,” said Olympic medalist Ivanie Blondin. “He's at the last stage.”
Federal, provincial and municipal government money has been requested for the $60 million renovation, which includes floor replacement, ice plant upgrades, a new running track and improved accessibility for people using mobility aids, among other things.
“We put Band-Aids on top of the duct tape to keep the facility running smoothly,” said Oval Director Mark Messer, who has worked at the facility since it opened.
“We will continue to work because this is what we do. We kept it. We replaced as many as we could. At some point we know something is going to go wrong.”
He is more optimistic about the Oval's future than when it last hosted the World Cup in January.
The federal budget passed this week in Ottawa allocated $115 billion for infrastructure over the next five years under the slogan “Building a Strong Canada.”
“This is an extremely positive sign,” Messer said.
The Oval's location on a university campus excluded it from some previous federal infrastructure money because it was considered an educational institution.
“Now they have created another infrastructure fund that we can qualify for,” Messer said.
“We have people in Ottawa who are working on this, they should be meeting this week to see, now that the money is there, how do we get it? We negotiated for two years, we went back and forth that yes, we can do it, we just need to find a way to do it. Now we have a path to it.”
Canadian Sports Minister Adam van Coeverden said Saturday in Toronto that sports-related projects such as the Oval in Calgary could receive money for infrastructure.
“The answer is yes,” van Coeverden said. “We know that sport, physical activity, recreation and play—the whole spectrum of physical activity plays a really important role in the cultural fabric.
“Sport plays an important role in the safety, health, mental health and vitality of our communities.”
The Alberta government gave the Oval $1 million in its February budget, which was used to replace the 1987 lights with LED lights and thus save money on energy consumption.
“Our government allocated $1 million from last year's budget to the University of California to address some of the immediate challenges associated with renovating the site,” the office of provincial Tourism and Sports Minister Andrew Boychenko said in a statement.
“In Budget 2025, the Government of Alberta has allocated more than $22.45 million to the University of Calgary for capital maintenance and upgrades to maintain and modernize all university infrastructure, including athletics facilities.
“Our government continues to call on federal and municipal governments to recognize the Calgary Olympic Oval for its contributions. The Olympic Oval is owned by the University of Calgary. They will be the ones who will have to take advantage of such funding opportunities. We encourage them to explore all options for generating revenue, including through the federal budget.”
Messer said renovations should begin in the spring of 2027 to limit inconvenience to more than just Olympic athletes.
“We have 15, 20, 25 different organizations that train from here,” he said. “If we're going to close for nine months, we need to give them advance notice.
“We need to have some kind of commitment and we need to get it done as quickly as possible so we can get started.”
Calgary is the oldest of the three indoor ovals in the country.
The Center de Glaces Intact Insurance in Quebec, which opened in 2021 at a cost of $68.7 million, has hosted international speed skating competitions.
The $44 million Pomeroy Sports Center in Fort St. John, British Columbia, opened in 2010.
The $178 million Richmond Olympic Oval, built for the 2010 Winter Games in British Columbia, did not contain long ice but was reconfigured for multi-use use.
