roof

Fort Frances council is opting not to acquire a steel roof for the East End rink at this time.

Plans are already in place to put a roof over the McIrvine Rink.

Earlier this year, the council agreed to focus on just one rink.

Administration investigated the cost savings of acquiring materials for the East End rink as part of its planning.

The cost came out at just over $516,000.

Another $500,000 would later be spent on a new concrete slab, rink boards and lighting.

Councillor Mike Behan feels only one covered rink is necessary for now.

“I’m not sure why we’re looking at this again, because when we first looked at this in January, I thought we decided we’re just going to do the one rink, McIrvine rink, and not do the East End rink because of the budget shortfall,” says Behan.

The initial cost to do both rinks was cited at nearly $2 million dollars, with the town budgeting $700,000 for each rink, leaving a budget shortfall of more than $535,000.

Infrastructure and Growth Manager, Travis Rob, says the cost savings were investigated because the East End rink project was included in this year’s capital budget, though it was dependent upon the town receiving provincial funding.

The company doing work on McIrvine was willing to honour the price offered in a previous bid, saving the town about $29,000.

The town received a grant of $500,000 from the Northern Ontario Heritage Fund for the McIrvine Rink project.

There has been no announcement yet on any funding being made available for the East End rink.