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Two months after threatening to shut down Berkeley’s historic ice rink, city officials are giving a tentative thumbs up to Berkeley Iceland’s plan to upgrade its operations. 

“At this point Iceland is staying in business,” said Deputy Fire Chief David Orth. “They’re doing exactly what we asked them to do.” 

A city audit of Iceland last year found 36 violations, the most serious connected to the rinks’ ammonia-based system used to chill the ice surface.  

Ammonia, a common refrigerant for skating rinks, is a toxic gas that can be lethal in high concentrations, and can turn highly combustible when mixed with oil. 

In response to fire department demands, Iceland, which opened in South Berkeley 64 years ago, has agreed to three safety mechanisms designed to reduce the risk to firefighters and patrons in the event of a leak. The rink will install a discharge tank in its control room to neutralize escaped ammonia by dumping it into water, a water spray system to treat ammonia contaminated air, and a remote control system to allow firefighters to move the ammonia away from the source of the leak without having to enter the contaminated control room. 

Last week, Iceland submitted its upgrade plans for city approval and is scheduled to complete the work by November. 

The Fire Department’s only objection at this point is Iceland’s contention that an open garage door qualified as providing a continuous source of outside air, Orth said.  

Iceland officials were unavailable to comment on the price of the upgrades and whether they planned to pass the costs to customers. General Manager Jay Wescott had previously ruled out installing a Freon-based cooling system, used at the company’s other rinks, because it couldn’t afford the estimated $300,000 price tag. 

Berkeley’s Toxics Supervisor Nabil Al-Hadithy said the city would hire a consultant to review Iceland’s plan, and bill the rink for the work. 

In addition to addressing the Fire Department’s priorities, Iceland must address other city concerns including demonstrating that the concrete building is structurally sound in the case of an earthquake and improving management controls and safety procedures, Al-Hadithy said. 

Meanwhile tests of the rinks piping, performed by a consultant for Iceland, showed that the rink’s equipment were in working order. 

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