We stopped by Everett Arena to see how they install the ice

By Jon Bodell - Sep 19, 2017 | 0 comments

Brent Beyor (wearing hat) and Mike South (in shorts and a T-shirt) had their work cut out for them at Everett Arena last Thursday. One of the true signs of the end of summer is when the arena transitions from an event space back to a hockey rink, and there's a lot of work that goes into it. We watched as the guys sprayed water, ran yarn from one side of the rink to the other, took lots of measurements, traced some shapes and painted the ice to get it ready for skating, which began Monday. JON BODELL / Insider staff

Brent Beyor (wearing hat) and Mike South (in shorts and a T-shirt) had their work cut out for them at Everett Arena last Thursday. One of the true signs of the end of summer is when the arena transitions from an event space back to a hockey rink, and there's a lot of work that goes into it. We watched as the guys sprayed water, ran yarn from one side of the rink to the other, took lots of measurements, traced some shapes and painted the ice to get it ready for skating, which began Monday. JON BODELL / Insider staff

Brent Beyor (wearing hat) and Mike South (in shorts and a T-shirt) had their work cut out for them at Everett Arena last Thursday. One of the true signs of the end of summer is when the arena transitions from an event space back to a hockey rink, and there's a lot of work that goes into it. We watched as the guys sprayed water, ran yarn from one side of the rink to the other, took lots of measurements, traced some shapes and painted the ice to get it ready for skating, which began Monday. JON BODELL / Insider staff

Brent Beyor (wearing hat) and Mike South (in shorts and a T-shirt) had their work cut out for them at Everett Arena last Thursday. One of the true signs of the end of summer is when the arena transitions from an event space back to a hockey rink, and there's a lot of work that goes into it. We watched as the guys sprayed water, ran yarn from one side of the rink to the other, took lots of measurements, traced some shapes and painted the ice to get it ready for skating, which began Monday. JON BODELL / Insider staff

Brent Beyor (wearing hat) and Mike South (in shorts and a T-shirt) had their work cut out for them at Everett Arena last Thursday. One of the true signs of the end of summer is when the arena transitions from an event space back to a hockey rink, and there's a lot of work that goes into it. We watched as the guys sprayed water, ran yarn from one side of the rink to the other, took lots of measurements, traced some shapes and painted the ice to get it ready for skating, which began Monday. JON BODELL / Insider staff

Brent Beyor (wearing hat) and Mike South (in shorts and a T-shirt) had their work cut out for them at Everett Arena last Thursday. One of the true signs of the end of summer is when the arena transitions from an event space back to a hockey rink, and there's a lot of work that goes into it. We watched as the guys sprayed water, ran yarn from one side of the rink to the other, took lots of measurements, traced some shapes and painted the ice to get it ready for skating, which began Monday. JON BODELL / Insider staff

Brent Beyor (wearing hat) and Mike South (in shorts and a T-shirt) had their work cut out for them at Everett Arena last Thursday. One of the true signs of the end of summer is when the arena transitions from an event space back to a hockey rink, and there's a lot of work that goes into it. We watched as the guys sprayed water, ran yarn from one side of the rink to the other, took lots of measurements, traced some shapes and painted the ice to get it ready for skating, which began Monday. JON BODELL / Insider staff

Brent Beyor (wearing hat) and Mike South (in shorts and a T-shirt) had their work cut out for them at Everett Arena last Thursday. One of the true signs of the end of summer is when the arena transitions from an event space back to a hockey rink, and there's a lot of work that goes into it. We watched as the guys sprayed water, ran yarn from one side of the rink to the other, took lots of measurements, traced some shapes and painted the ice to get it ready for skating, which began Monday. JON BODELL / Insider staff

Brent Beyor (wearing hat) and Mike South (in shorts and a T-shirt) had their work cut out for them at Everett Arena last Thursday. One of the true signs of the end of summer is when the arena transitions from an event space back to a hockey rink, and there's a lot of work that goes into it. We watched as the guys sprayed water, ran yarn from one side of the rink to the other, took lots of measurements, traced some shapes and painted the ice to get it ready for skating, which began Monday. JON BODELL / Insider staff

Brent Beyor (wearing hat) and Mike South (in shorts and a T-shirt) had their work cut out for them at Everett Arena last Thursday. One of the true signs of the end of summer is when the arena transitions from an event space back to a hockey rink, and there's a lot of work that goes into it. We watched as the guys sprayed water, ran yarn from one side of the rink to the other, took lots of measurements, traced some shapes and painted the ice to get it ready for skating, which began Monday. JON BODELL / Insider staff

Ever wonder how they get big logos on the ice? Unlike most of the color you see on the hockey rink surface, the logos are not painted. They come on these mesh screens, which are placed right on the ice and frozen in place. JON BODELL / Insider staff

We stopped by Everett Arena in March of last year to check out the process of taking down the hockey rink and getting the arena set up for its spring/ summer season, in which the place turns into a convention center where numerous events are held.

This year, we decided to check out the opposite process –bringing the ice and boards back.

We got an email alerting us that starting Monday (the day before this paper was published), the arena would be open for skating again. As luck would have it, the email came right as we were working on our Fall Guide issue, and nothing signals the beginning of fall – and the end of summer – like a giant sheet of ice.

Jeffery Bardwell, arena and properties manager at Everett Arena, let us in last Thursday to watch the crew prepare the surface for a season of ice skates and hockey pucks.

When we arrived, the very first few steps were already done – there was a thin layer of ice on the ground that had been base-coated with white paint, and of course the boards had already been set up.

That meant we got there just in time for the more visually appealing stuff – the layout and painting of the lines.

We had always wondered how hockey rinks got their lines and logos, and our trip ended up being a lot more educational than we ever imagined.

A team of three men – all experienced in rink-making – worked like a well-oiled, ice-making machine out there, and we got some pretty good views of what was going on. Have a look: