Arena floor and flooring element

A multipurpose sports arena floor installation, comprising:

• (a) a floor supporting bed (1) of heat insulating material,
• (b) a floor composed of a plurality of horizontally elongate, extruded floor elements (3) joined together in a parallel, side-by-side relationship on said supporting bed and each having an upper panel portion (15) defining a generally flat top surface (12) and, formed integrally therewith and on a lower side thereof, a plurality of longitudinally extending and laterally spaced fluid passages (11), each of said passages having side wall members (17) extending generally downwardly from said upper panel portion and a bottom wall member (18),
• (c) means (5,6,7) connecting said fluid passages of said floor elements in a manner to form a fluid circulation circuit,
• (d) means (8) for circulating a temperature controlling fluid through said circuit, and
• (e) means (9) for selectively lowering the temperature of said circulated fluid sufficiently to create an artificial ice rink on top of said floor by freezing water spread thereon, wherein:
• (1) said supporting bed has a generally flat upper surface,
• (2) said bottom wall members of said fluid passages rest on said generally flat upper bed surface in a manner leaving said upper panel portion of each floor element supported only by said side wall members of said fluid passages,
• (3) the lateral center to center spacing (S) of said fluid passages of each floor element is less than twice the height (H) of the element,
• (4) at least said side wall members of said fluid passages are formed of a thermoplastic material exhibiting a hardness of at least about 90 Shore A at a temperature below -5.degree. C. sufficient to support an ice surface reconditioning machine, and a hardness of at most about 75 Shore A at a temperature above +10.degree. C., and
• (5) means are provided for selectively increasing the temperature of said circulated fluid to at least +10.degree. C. to render said floor suitable for activities to be practiced directly thereon without the presence of ice and requiring a comparatively soft floor surface.