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VALLEYVIEW ARENA OPEN

City of Kamloops crews kept busy throughout the weekend due to frigid temps

Jan 15, 2024 | 5:30 PM

KAMLOOPS — With temperatures still well below the freezing mark, City of Kamloops officials are keeping a close eye on facilities and infrastructure.

Civic Operations crews for the city were kept busy throughout the weekend tending to several situations throughout Kamloops.

Valleyview Arena was shut down on Saturday, as part of its refrigeration plant froze. There were also other issues as a result of the cold, but Civic Operations spokesperson Darren Crundwell says city staff went above and beyond to ensure critical infrastructure kept working.

“We did have issues at our Kamloops Centre for Water Quality, our water treatment plant, this weekend. We were able to keep the plant running, thanks to great work by our utilities team and contractors,” Crundwell explains. “We had several other water main breaks and heat issues in other buildings [but] all the other issues are dealt with. We’re addressing some things, but we can do that under normal operations outside of our Department Operations Centre. And yes, Valleyview Arena is back up and running as of 12:00 [p.m. Monday], all user groups are back in there.”

Crundwell suggests that when we go from a period of cold to warmer temperatures, new issues with infrastructure can arise as a result of thawing conditions. He says if you see anything out of the ordinary, call the Civic Operations Centre to report any problems.

“We do actually see a lot of water main breaks when the weather starts to warm up, so we’ll be watching this week really closely,” Crundwell explains. “We’re also asking the public if they do see anything related to what they think is the cold weather — you know, water bubbling up from where it shouldn’t be, things like that — please call us at (250) 828-3461. That number here to Civic Operations is monitored at all times, and we can address it.”