Letter: Install Tiles at Closed Roller Rink for Economic Repair

Editor's Note: Township officials recently said the municipality will soon bring up again consideration of how to repair the closed roller rink at Harry Dunham Park off Somerville Road in the township's Liberty Corner section. The township
A copy of this letter was sent to the Bernards Township Committee, Township Engineer Tom Timko and the Bernards Township Recreation Committee, according to the letter writer, Douglas Wicks.

To the editor.

A recent article indicated that the Harry Dunham roller rink repairs are up for yet another discussion. The article also mentioned that the suggestion for using a tile floor system was dropped from the plans but failed to say why it was dropped. I remain convinced that installing the tile system over the existing surface with in-house labor would be the most effective and cost-saving method of resurfacing the rink and can be so installed at a cost of less than $75,000.

The cost of the tiles is only about $60,000. Even if it were contracted out, it should cost less than $90,000 for an installation. As [a] photo...depicts, the tiles can be installed directly over a cracked asphalt rink surface exactly like that in Harry Dunham Park. The tile system can be easily installed right over the existing surface without the need to redo or replace the existing surface. The tile system was installed over the existing rink surface system with minimum disturbance to the perimeter fencing system and has had great success in Green Brook and Monmouth County and a host of other rinks throughout the United States. It has a long proven history of success with more than 300 worldwide installations and has been used since 1997 in all kinds of environments. 

In 1996 the IIHF [International Ice Hockey Federation] in Switzerland commissioned the design and production of an inline hockey floor, with similar skating and puck behavior as ice hockey. The first floor was introduced in 1997 during an international IIHF inline hockey tournament in Bratislava, Slovakia, with teams from six countries.

IceCourt LLC was formed in 1998 in the USA and has since supplied the surfaces for many World Championships held in Europe and North America and National Championships worldwide. IceCourt has become the worlds leading specialist in flooring for roller sports with hundreds of floors sold around the world. No other company has designed floors so specific to figure skating, artistic skating, speed skating, Roller Derby, quad roller hockey and inline hockey.

Floors made for roller sports are the toughest of any floor. They must withstand the pounding of hockey sticks, the impact of players and skates, the scratches and slides of tumbling skaters and the shifting of the floor by hundreds of people skating in a counterclockwise direction. For roller sports, the floors need to be seamless, virtually monolithic, and extraordinarily flat. Nobody in the Polypropylene industry has achieved a better product with all these attributes. The extraordinary quality of IceCourt has led it to be the preferred floor for multipurpose use, such as basketball, volleyball, lacrosse, ball hockey, soccer, dodge ball, gymnastics and aerobics.

IceCourt Outdoor takes the sport of outdoor roller hockey to a higher standard.  IceCourt Outdoor is a rigid tile surface, which holds up to the harsh environment of outdoor hockey and ball sports. The patented surface is similar to that of the Inline Hockey World Championships, with the best wheel grip and fastest puck speeds.

Its precision locking system with expansion joints and springs is specifically designed for extreme temperature changes. Three millimeter gaps between tiles allow for the thermal expansion and contraction. This way, each individual tile can expand and contract, instead of the whole floor moving.

The IceCourt Outdoor locking system was engineered so it can be disassembled with a special tool should a repair be needed. The design of the tile uses a four millimeter surface layer, which is supported by end open structure with force bridges underneath, enables strong impact resistance. It also promotes flexibility against falls, preventing impact injuries. Specially shaped surface perforations allow easy rain and dust drainage, but do not diminish the wheel grip. The subsurface can dry quickly after a rain shower. Water and dust can be removed using a leaf blower. The tiles will remain flat thanks to the hi-tech five-point injection system, which avoids material stress. The tiles are made from custom formulated material with high-tech UV protection, which will withstand the rough roller hockey operation. Its smooth surface makes it a formidable surface for outdoor basketball and recreational sports. The surface can be installed permanently or is portable as it can be removed and reassembled on another rink if needed. .

“IceCourt is the only surface that is designed specifically for inline hockey.”
Charlie Yoder, Head Coach, USA National Inline Hockey Team

To design a dry Polypropylene surface that has similar skating characteristics, as ice while using inline skates was a challenge. The wheel grip must be good, but not too grippy, so that regular hockey stops can be performed and still have enough grip to prevent slipping during tight turns and acceleration. The feedback of many great European ice hockey players was evaluated during the development. A fine balance was found, together with specially formulated material, which became the basis of our patented perforated surface.

To enhance the puck speed on a flat surface, it is designed tiny pinheads, which reduce the contact area of the puck, allowing similar speeds and glide characteristics as on ice. The perforation in the floor diffuses the air buildup underneath the puck, preventing it from wobbling during high-speed shots. The combination of a faster puck together with a super fast skating surface has made the game of inline hockey as exciting as ice hockey. This is exactly what is needed for resurfacing the Harry Dunham roller rink.

The high-tech, proven long service, low-cost ice court roller rink tile system has been successfully used to resurface roller rinks in Green Brook, N.J. and in Long Branch, N.J. with performance characteristics far superior to that of asphalt and of much lower maintenance and installation costs. It has been successfully installed directly over a rink surface as ours with unskilled labor and within a short period of time. It offers a fi-year guarantee. As the attached letter from the president of Ice court Nicholas Johannes, who inspected the Harry Dunham rink last March, our rink is a viable candidate for the proven tile system as is. And he is an expert on this system having successfully installed more that 300 over the past decade. As [a] photo...depicts,the tiles are easily and rapidly installed right over the existing rink surface.

In 2008, Monmouth County Recreation Department installed their Icecourt tile surface with in-house labor. Green Brook installed their surface with hockey club members. Both Green Brook and Monmouth County purchased the tiles directly from the manufacturer for around $60,000 and cut their cost tremendously by installing it themselves. My recent conversation with Ms. Heng Chin, Assistant Engineer, Monmouth County Park System, indicated that they have had no problems with their Long Branch, N.J. roller rink Icecourt tile installation in the four-plus years since its installation.  

The same maintenance free situation is true of the Green Brook Icecourt tile surface installation. Furthermore, the Stafford Township N.J. recreation department is contemplating the installation of the Icecourt tile surfaces on two of their roller rinks this year. 

Therefore, I believe that the Township Committee should revisit and fully research the concept of resurfacing the Harry Dunham rink with an Icecourt tile system just like Monmouth County and Greenbrook have successfully done and like more than 300 other rink owners have done over the past decade. There’s no valid reason not to proceed immediately and I would gladly like to assist you in this endeavor. 

Douglas E. Wicks
Bernards Township