The Pop Whalen Rink Outgrew Its Own Chiller

Early this fall, Jess Shearn watched a leased Zamboni make its laps around the oval at Pop Whalen Ice & Arts Center. She had been on the job about a month. In an October 4 piece from the Lakes Region Curling Association, the new manager at the Abenaki recreation area put her goal simply: "I want this rink to be profitable." The machine she was watching was rented. The chiller under the ice had already failed more than once that year. Over the summer, according to the same article, the town's options for this season had come down to a $300,000 temporary chiller on a trailer or canceling the season outright.

Skaters have ice again this November, and it took patching to get there. The bigger story is why the Pop got into trouble so soon after voters paid to rebuild it. The renovation worked. The building it produced simply needs more cooling than the old equipment can supply.

A chiller built for a building that no longer exists

Voters approved a $6.9 million reconstruction of the Pop in 2022-23. During the project, consultants said the existing chiller, which the town had bought used in the early 2000s, had another 10 to 20 years of life. So the money went into other parts of the facility.

That chiller was designed for an outdoor rink. It ran fine when the Pop was little more than a sheet metal shell over the ice. Insulation was one of the improvements the new building badly needed, and it also left the chiller working in warmer air than it was built for. Its two compressors struggled, and one eventually cracked.

The Capital Improvements Program Committee's August 24 minutes put numbers on the mismatch. Victor Druan of the Friends of Pop Whalen relayed what chiller companies had found: the plant is too small for the building.

Druan also told the committee that the chillers and the Zamboni were the only things the renovation did not replace.

The busier the rink got, the harder the chiller worked

Equipment that was already undersized got pushed harder by the Pop's own popularity. Druan told the committee the rink averaged about $260,000 a year in revenue over the five years before the renovation, and about $460,000 a year since.

Shearn explained at the same meeting that more users led the rink to stretch its season. It used to run from October to March or April. Now it opens earlier, which brings in more revenue, and she said the current system cannot support that longer season. October is the problem month. Druan said that back when the season started in October, the old chillers only had to work hard for a couple of weeks before the weather cooled.

So each early-season skating session that helps the rink pay its way also puts more strain on the machinery making the ice. The Lakes Region Curling Association reported that the rink went watery at least twice in the past year, and that the equipment failures cut into school programs and private clubs. Druan told the CIP committee that 2026 repairs had reached $100,000.

What kept the ice in for this season

The October article lays out the short-term fixes that got the Pop through the summer and into its winter session.

1. A replacement compressor. Parks & Rec found a used but solid replacement for the cracked compressor. The $54,000 cost was covered by a special Select Board appropriation. New parts were not an option because, as Shearn told the CIP committee, the system is too old for any to exist.
2. An overhaul of the second compressor, which the article says put the facility on solid footing for now.
3. New compressor tubes. The failure-prone tubes are being swapped out, one at a time, as part of the fall work.
4. Holding tanks inside the arena. The Pop draws from two wells. With the Zamboni refilling every hour or two, withdrawals were reaching the bottom of the well shaft and stirring up sediment that clogged the compressor tubes. The tanks let the town pump at a gentler rate.
5. A new electric Zamboni. The Friends of Pop Whalen are paying the $200,000 price of an all-electric resurfacer, expected in November. It replaces the rental machine the town has relied on for much of the past year. The group directs donations through PopWhalen.org.

The article calls these "stop-gap measures." They cover the cost of keeping old equipment running, but they don't settle the rink's long-term future.

The permanent fix and who decides it

At the August CIP meeting, Shearn presented two replacement options from ARC. One was a Freon system like the current one, estimated at $1.3 million. The other was an ammonia system estimated at $1.7 million, which she said would save on energy. By early October, the proposal described in the curling association article had settled on an ammonia chiller priced at about $1.5 million. It would save $1,500 to $1,600 a month in operating costs, and because it uses evaporative cooling, it would also need less water. That matters at a rink whose wells have been a recurring trouble spot.

The funding plan in that article has two parts. A third of the cost would come from fundraising and donations. The remaining $1 million would go to voters in March as a bond proposal. At the October 13 CIP meeting, committee member Adam Comolli said the Pop Whalen plan was meant to be fully funded by the rink's enterprise fund, and confirmed it was listed as a bond. In August, Druan said he did not expect the cost to fall on taxpayers.

The proposal still has three stops before it reaches the ballot. The CIP committee weighs in first. The Select Board then decides whether to put a bond question on the warrant for Town Meeting, and the Budget Committee also has a say.

The article also links the timing to an opportunity. A long-term arrangement with Brewster Academy and a national girls' sports camp could bring about 150 campers to Brewster's campus for two three-week sessions starting in early June. About a third would be in the hockey program. The deal would bring Parks & Rec $40,000 to $50,000 with a minimum 10-year commitment, if the town can offer a reliable rink. If the project is approved, a temporary ice-making system would cover the camp's first year, and the new chiller would be running by September 2027 for local schools and clubs.

The rest of the Abenaki winter, on this season's ice

For now, the Pop's November schedule on the town's RecDesk calendar includes weekday morning public skates, Friday afternoon sessions starting at 4 p.m., and a Saturday session on November 14 starting at 9:15 a.m.

That Saturday is also the Abenaki Ski Team's 53rd Annual Ski & Skate Sale, from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Kingswood Regional High School. Consignment drop-off is Friday, November 13, from 4 to 6 p.m. Consignors keep 75 percent of the sale price, and the team calls the sale its biggest fundraiser.

Abenaki season passes for 2026-27 are already on sale through Wolfeboro Parks & Recreation and are valid November 1, 2026, through April 1, 2027.

The ski team is adding a Junior Freestyle program this season. Its race calendar includes:

• The Boxer Short Race on January 17
• The first NENSA-sanctioned Nordic race held at Abenaki, on January 31
• The Chewy Slalom on February 13
• A new NHARA-sanctioned U10 Combi on February 28

Downtown, the Christmas in Wolfeboro Parade goes down Main Street on Saturday, November 28, at 3 p.m., followed by the community tree lighting and visits at Santa's Hut from 4 to 6 p.m. The Wolfeboro Chamber's 2nd Annual Winter Mingle is set for Thursday, February 25, 2027, from 5:30 to 8 p.m. at The Barn at the Inn on Main.

At Dolan Real Estate, we follow the places that shape winter in Wolfeboro, from the rink at Abenaki to the parade on Main Street. If you're curious how town projects like this one figure into owning a home on Lake Winnipesaukee, request a personalized consultation and we'll walk you through what we're seeing locally.