The Frobisher rink board is hosting a meeting to decide on the future of the Frobisher rink. The public is invited to come in and talk about their visions for the arena.
According to the rink committee board member Teana Rucks, they need to see if there is enough interest in the rink. And if so they will need to come up with the strategic plan for the building.
“It’s a beginning of the discussion, but things usually go pretty quickly in Frobisher, so we are hoping to see the plan coming out of it (the meeting). And we are hoping to bring other people out here, other people’s opinions, if they have another way they would like to go about doing this,” Rucks said.
So far the board has been talking about keeping the main lobby and tearing down the building around the ice. They want to make it into an outdoor rink, with the main lobby used as a warm up/washroom area.
With lack of funding and lower interest towards the rink, Frobisher can’t afford to renovate the older building. On the other hand, turned into an outdoor rink the arena may still serve the community for quite a few years.
So far ice hasn’t been put in this year due to weather conditions, but Rucks believes it will get done soon.
“We are hoping (to put the ice in) within the next month here, but it’s been so hard with the fluctuating temperatures, because it’s a naturalized rink. So if we get two feet of water in there, it needs to be really cold for quite a bit of time,” Rucks said.
If everything goes well and the reconstruction plan gets approved, Rucks hopes to receive a lot of help from the supportive Frobisher community.
“Hopefully a lot of people donate their time, their effort. That’s one thing that’s great about Frobisher, everybody steps up to the plate and donates equipment usually, whatever we need, so hopefully we won’t have an issue with that,” Rucks said.
The rink board meeting will take place on Jan. 23 at 7 p.m. at the Refresh Grill.
