THURSDAY AUGUST 11 2016 SINCE 1895STAY CONNECTED OFPROGRESS.COM
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AN EDITION OF THE BELLEVILLE NEWS-DEMOCRATBND
INDEX
Around Town2AOur Town 2A
Opinion 4A
Lifestyle 5A
Business 6A
Sports 1B
News 2B
Obituaries 2B
News 3B
Police Blotter4B
BUSINESS
The doors at TimHortons will openFriday 6A
SPORTS
O’Fallon footballtraining campopens 1B
Not only willMcKendreeMetro Rec Plexbe a leader of its
kind in the metro-eastwith two NHL-sized icerinks, an aquatic center fitwith a 10-lane champion-ship swimming pool andrecreational pool, but it’salso using the latest incutting edge technologywith it’s implementationof Eco Chill by a Canadian
company CIMCO. Theproject is still on schedulefor its expected comple-tion in about four months.
“It’s a heat reclamationsystem that allows us toreclaim the byproduct heatcoming from the systemused to keep the ice cool,and that is normallywasted, but with Eco Chillwe can recycle that heat inother needed areas of thefacility,” John Arbeiter,senior general manager,said.
In other words, the leftover heat that normally
would dissipate into theair, will be re-routed to beused in areas such as thelocker rooms to heat thewater for showers, KimSmallheer, generalmanager, said.
“It’s very new tech-nology, and very greenand eco-friendly,” Small-heer said.
The effect of greeb-house gases on the envi-ronment coupled withcurrent electric and gasrates are the motivatingconcerns for all ice rinkowners and users these
days who are seeking outless negative impactingtechnologies, Arbeitersaid.
One of the rinks will bea year-round ice rink forathletes and competitions,where as the second willbe seasonal, and turnedinto an arena for eventslike trade shows, concerts,organization meetings orpublic speakers.
“It can be used for con-certs, trade shows, con-ventions or any type ofevent needing 20,000square feet of open space.
We will have bleachers oneither side with one sidebeing retractable under-neath the top level seatingarea overlooking thespace,” Arbeiter said.
“We will be able to putover 3,000 people here fora concert venue to see anup and coming countrystar or an aging rockerwho wants to hang on,” hesaid.
The vanguard tech-nology incorporates ageothermal horizontalloop piping system underthe adjacent running
track, which will be con-nected to CIMCO’s EcoChill system in a seperatemechanical room.
“There’s more than 13miles worth of this plastic,rubberish piping that getslaid, and before that theyhad to dig about three feetdown for everything to fitin. Interestingly enoughthere’s enough piping thatgets looped back and forththe whole length of therink that one could line a26.2 mile marathon route
ROBYN L. KIRSCH [email protected]
O’Fallon McKendree Metro Rec Plex general manager Kim Smallheer discusses the progression of the new sport complex at the corner of Hwy 50 and Scott-Troy Road.
Eco Chill: O’Fallon’s McKendreeRec Plex goes green BY ROBYN L. KIRSCH
SEE REC PLEX, 3A
O’Fallon’s park and rec-reation programs spendalmost $3.6 million in anaverage year, employ 228people in an average year,and attract over 128,000visitors each year whospend an estimated $1.6million because of their useof O’Fallon’s parks.
That’s according to De-velopment Strategies’ eco-nomic impact study on thecity park’s system.
Bob Lewis, principal withthe St. Louis-based firm, onMonday, presented thestudy’s finidings to the
aldermanic Parks and Envi-ronment Committee.
The study demonstratedthe economic impact ofO’Fallon Parks and Recre-ation department in thecity, St. Clair County, andthe state.
Lewis said O’Fallon isone of the major cities ofthe region and within St.Clair County. In fact, na-tional measures of parksand recreation expendituresby local governments placeO’Fallon well above aver-age, he said.
“It is not difficult to ob-serve that the quality of lifein O’Fallon and the eco-nomic progress that it andits residents have achieved
are immensely supportedby the many superior facil-ities and activities in O’Fal-lon’s park facilities andrecreational programs,”Lewis said.
But it is often difficult toquantify that full impact, hesaid. How, for instance, canthe economic impact ofbiking, jogging, or roller-blading around the parks bemeasured?, Lewis said.
“Such pursuits exposepeople to nature and exer-cise which, in turn, helpwith their physical andmental well-being, almostcertainly making themmore productive partici-
O’Fallon parks generateover $4.7 million forlocal economy annually
BY MARK HODAPP
SEE PARK, 3A
It's the end of the linefor pension benefits forO’Fallon City Councilmembers.
Members of the councillast week deleted pensionsfrom the list of benefitsthey receive and amendedthe city code to reflect thechange.
As of Aug. 1, councilmembers no longer areeligible to participate in theIllinois Municipal Retire-ment Fund (IMRF).
The final vote came after
none of the 12 City Coun-cil members present de-clared that fulfilling theduties of their office doesnot require them to workat least 1,000 hours a year— the minimum to bepension-eligible. Ward 4
Alderman Matt Smallhearand Ward 7 AldermanDavid Cozad were absentfrom the meeting, whichlasted only 19 minutes.
The council’s latestdecision impacts onlyWard 5 Alderman Mike
O’Fallon ends citycouncil pensionparticipation
Herb Roach
BY MARK HODAPP
SEE IMRF, 3A
