The skaters aren’t the only things changing at the Tay Community Rink.
A gathering of politicians, municipal staff, and the construction trade met in Port McNicoll’s outdoor rink at 560 Calvert Street recently to recognize a $316,500 Community Building Fund Capital grant contribution to rink upgrades from the Ontario government.
Through funding from the Ontario Trillium Foundation awarded in 2021, the facility was upgraded over the past five months for greater accessibility to rink users.
Those upgrades included an increase from two to four change rooms including accessible washrooms and showers for each, as adapted from a previous storage room; the grant funding also provided the opportunity to extend a new storage area into another section of the building.
On behalf of Simcoe North MP Jill Dunlop who was away, constituency assistant Leslie Stroud took to the podium in praise for the province’s commitment to quality of life enhancements in communities across Ontario.
“This substantial contribution will undoubtedly bolster the operational capacity of the Tay Community Rink, allowing it to serve as a hub of activity and a source of pride for residents and visitors alike,” said Stroud. “The impact of this investment extends far beyond the physical enhancement to the rink. It signifies the belief in the power of community spaces to bring people together, promote physical activity, and foster a sense of belonging.”
Mayor Ted Walker acknowledged the efforts of the attendees for the upgrade of the NHL-sized refrigerated covered outdoor rink.
“It’s interesting to think about all this community rink has offered to our community,” said Walker. “I’m sure it’s been the first rink for a lot of young skaters, lots of birthday parties, shinny, parent-and-tot skates, hockey and ball hockey tournaments, figure skating, as well as roller derby, lacrosse, and has helped house numerous community events including Port-A-Rama.”
Walker also praised those with foresight in creating the rink’s artificial ice surface for its resiliency throughout the past 12 years as it carried on operations through unfavourable weather as well as the pandemic.
“The change rooms we had before were small and they weren’t accessible,” Walker told MidlandToday. “We have a lot of other communities that use the facilities – hockey teams and so on. This upgrade enables us to accommodate more people in an accessible manner.”
According to parks, recreation and facility services manager Bryan Anderson: “When we originally went out for tender on the project, our cost estimates came in just shy of $1 million, but staff went back to the drawing board and decided to take the project on in-house to be the general contractor and sub out all the different areas of the project, and cut the cost in half.”
Both Walker and Anderson gave large credit to Marchand Construction Inc. based out of Midland for their involvement on the project. Owner Rob Marchand, in attendance, further passed that praise onward.
“The people that worked for me did a good job and worked hard every day,” said Marchand. “As well as the suppliers and sub-trades that could get the best prices they could, as they are all local sub-trades.”
As for why the upgrade was of importance and celebration to Tay Township, Anderson shared that its NHL-size rink had been of great use not only to North Simcoe residents but from rink users across the region.
“For the last couple of winters, we’ve had the North Central Predators having their winter classic here,” said Anderson. “We’ve had the Orillia Hawks who have a winter classic here. There are games all day, but with only two change rooms you had to separate the games by an hour; so you could only book four or five games in a day.
“Now we can book more, but that also provides time for the rink to be used when the teams are in the change rooms.” Anderson added, “It opens up the ability for us to change our schedule up a bit, to accommodate more users, have less downtime in between rentals, and accommodate hockey games now that we have the additional space for teams.”
The Ontario Trillium Foundation, a provincial agency and one of Canada’s leading granting foundations, stated the building of healthy and vibrant communities as their mission having invested over $115 million into over 640 community projects and partnerships last year.
Information on the Tay Community Rink, including programming schedules and costs, is available at the Tay Township website.