Rink Improvements
Mean More Skating

Some people are already thinking about ice and skating in August.

The Friends of the Randolph Rink, a spin-off from the Recreation Committee, has been working with the Town’s new Public Works Director, John Rotter, to solidify plans for improvements to the Prince Street rink.

Working from an existing design for the rink done by local engineering firm DuBois & King, construction bids were sought this summer. The funding for the construction comes from a Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF) grant and matching town funds set aside for the rink some time ago.  

With a combination of the town road crew, gravel from the town stockpile, and contracted material and labor, a solid, well-drained base will be established for the rink. This will provide a level, well-drained surface on which ice can be made in the winter. 

The committee believes ice can be made earlier and will last longer with the new subsurface, resulting in more skating days during the winter.

The original design called for a concrete slab to be poured on top of the underlying material. The Friends of the Rink mounted a fund-raising campaign last winter, and although it met with some success, it was not enough to pay for the costly steel-reinforced concrete slab estimated at about $100,000.

Rotter suggested a more modest asphalt-paved surface to protect the underlying material and to provide a smooth surface on which roller-blading could take place in the warmer months after the ice is gone.

However, the currently-committed town funds and the LWCF grant money is not enough to allow for paving the rink this fall while the other work is completed. The Selectboard last week, therefore, approved Town Manager Peter Butterfield’s recommendation that the gravel cap be applied this year, but not the paving.

The paving job could be included as part of next summer’s paving projects so that a contractor would not have to come to town especially for the skating rink, he noted.

Contract Awarded

Selectman Steve Springer moved the acceptance of a contract with Kingsbury Construction for $66,000 to do this fall’s work, and it was accepted unanimously.

However, Jon Kaplan, one of the founders of the Friends of the Rink, still hopes the paving might be done this year.

"It would be great if individuals and businesses in the community could come up with the $16,000 to $17,000 it will take to pave the new rink surface this fall," he said. "If we have to put this off until next year, we will have to move the boards once again. I’m still optimistic that there are some generous donors in town we haven’t heard from yet."

Volunteers have already started dismantling the existing boards in preparation for the contractor. The winter fund-raising campaign raised enough money to pay for new lumber to rebuild the hockey sideboards after the subsurface work and drainage is completed. As the existing boards are dismantled, they are being evaluated to salvage anything worthwhile.

The Friends of the Rink would like to see the rink and the "warming building" used for more than just a few months a year.

"I would love to see kids rollerblading down there when the ice is gone," Kaplan said.

Interested donors can contact the Friends of the Rink through Jon Kaplan at 728-9545 or by email at vtcyclist@verizon.net.