Fort Frances outdoor rink to get upgrades/covered roof
Just one outdoor rink in Fort Frances will have a roof over it.
Town council agreed to place it over the McIrvine rink, but not the East End outdoor rink.
The cost to do both rinks came in higher than expected.
The lowest bid for the steel structure was over $1 million for both rinks.
Operations and Facilities Manager Travis Rob says the McIrvine rink is more in need of an upgrade.
“McIrvine rink is by far in far worse shape than East End is, and is in dire need of a rebuild,” says Rob.
“We definitely could look down the road once we have grant approval at doing a second rink of some capacity, whether that is a concrete slab and boards or the full concrete slab, boards and roof.”
The town received a grant of $500,000 from the Northern Ontario Heritage Fund for the McIrvine rink.
An application for funding for the other is still being reviewed.
The work proposed includes the demolition of the existing rink, building new concrete slabs before erecting the steel roof structure.
The rink would come complete with lighting and new dasher boards.
Similar structures have been completed in the past year in Alberton, Chapple and Sioux Narrows.
The total cost of the improvements is pegged at almost $1 million, while the town had budgeted $700,000 with the grant.
Councillor Mike Behan says it is frustrating to see costs come in higher than expected.
“It’s so frustrating that we want to move forward on these things at the time, but then you find out how much it’s really going to cost,” says Behan.
Administration has cost-estimated improvements to the East End rink at over $1.9 million.
