The floor has been installed after 14 years since the arena was built. It was part of the original design which was aimed as a premier facility for lacrosse. With this, the 2,000-seat multi-purpose arena has joined Queen’s Park Arena in New Westminster as the only such facility in Canada to offer a wooden playing surface.
The 17,000 square feet portable wood floor design was installed by Cascadia Sport Systems Inc. It used four by eight-foot panels of maple wood. The wood floor also includes a protective cover to enable hosting of graduation ceremonies and other events. The floor will be installed each spring and would be removed at the end of the summer, to accommodate the ice sports season. A sub floor will be featured between the ice and hardwood floor for events in the fall and winter. The Lakers and the minor league will now share the same logo, which is displayed on the new floor.
The new wooden floor is expected to prevent injuries to players, as the cement floor was hard on players’ joints. Following the installation, lacrosse games will be held primarily at Bill Copeland, with Burnaby Lake and Kensington arenas to host other dry floor sports.
