A consultant’s report says it would cost $2.7 million to replace the two ice plants at the Memorial Sports Centre in Fort Frances with a single unit.
There would be efficiencies.
Operations and Facilities Manager, Travis Rob, says it would also resolve a staffing issue.
“It would relieve us of our need to have a certified operator on staff at all times. We would just have to have our staff do the basic refrigeration course, which we require anyway,” says Rob.
But administration is recommending not proceeding with the project at this time.
Rob says the town has done a good job of replacing parts when needed, and the plants are still running well, so there is no immediate rush to have them replaced.
“There may be a year that’s better to do it than another year, but I don’t think we’re gonna get to a point where all of the stars aligned perfectly and all of the equipment is at end of life at the same time,” says Rob.
Rob says the report does give them a near shovel-ready project if funding becomes readily available.
“I don’t wanna see your shovel ready because we don’t have final design, but we are more shovel ready than it’s than we were at the start of 2021. It’s a project that is kind of in the queue waiting for the perfect grant funding opportunity to come along that we can leverage.”
