Shawville parks and recreation manager Wes Tubman explained that the town’s old machine, a 1998 Olympia originally purchased in 2008, had started to leave grooves in the ice.

“We’ve known for a bit that we were going to have to start investing in something, I’m going to say February is when we started to have major issues for our ice surface, not giving the ice surface that was needed,” he said. “You need a good quality of ice and the machine just wasn’t working, it wasn’t cutting for us properly. A bent frame is kind of what we thought it was over the years [ . . . ] it wasn’t shaving properly, it was leaving grooves in the ice.”

The new machine is a 2011 version of the same make and model, with a total cost of $60,112.50. After subtracting donations and sponsorships of $14,500, the town paid the remaining $45,612.50 out of their general account, approving the purchase at their July meeting. The resolution notes that additional sponsorship money is anticipated to lower the municipality’s cost further. Tubman said that significant contributions had come from the Flying Elbows tournament over the years, as well as the sponsors that are displayed throughout the arena, and thanked them for their support.

Tubman said they stuck with Olympia as opposed to the Zamboni brand due to the size of their storage room, as well as the option to re-use some old parts.

“The best that we can use is the blades,” he said. “They’re both 84 inches which is ideal because we have 12 blades, they’re about $500 a pop so we didn’t have to buy any blades for the machine, just re-use them.”

Shawville mayor Bill McCleary said that they already have an idea of what the next item on the agenda at the arena will be.

“The condenser outside is the scary one now, if it goes, the rink is down,” he said. “When the FRR money comes out we’re going to look for a condenser. They’re in the $220,000 ballpark.”

Register or subscribe to read this content

Thanks for stopping by! This article is available to readers who have created a free account or who subscribe to The Equity.

When you register for free with your email, you get access to a limited number of stories at no cost. Subscribers enjoy unlimited access to everything we publish—and directly support quality local journalism here in the Pontiac.

Register or Subscribe Today!