Since October, avid ice skaters have been able to dust off their blades on the rink at the Tantramar Civic Centre (with free skates most weekdays from noon to 1pm, and most Sunday afternoons). But once the deeper cold sets in, the opportunities will multiply as the region’s lakes, ponds and wetlands freeze over.

Over in Dorchester, there’s an additional venue for the winter sport: a regulation-sized outdoor rink off School Street, beside the Dorchester Consolidated School. And this year, the rink will see some upgrades.

At a special meeting Tuesday, council approved a $55,000 contract with Fundy Environmental and Fabrication Services from just down the road in Middleton, to improve the surface area of the rink in advance of flooding it.

“Right now, it’s basically a muck surface,” Active Living director Matt Pryde told council at a meeting Monday.

Pryde told council the rink is “heavily used throughout the winter by the daycare, the school, general public.” He said his own kids also frequent the rink.

“It’s very difficult to make ice on it, let alone keep the ice throughout the winter. So step one to improve this facility is to basically dig that all up and level it out and with proper gravel and and tailings.”

Pryde told council that the work would be one more step towards a future project that could include a concrete pad and ice plant for the outdoor rink. “With the climate the way it is right now, we thought it made the most sense to plan for the future,” said Pryde. “There’s no official plans, but we just want to make sure that we were prepared in case we got to that point.”

New Zamboni building and library lease agreement coming

Two other Dorchester items came up at Monday’s Committee of the Whole meeting. In addition to the upgraded rink surface, a project is underway to rebuild the building which stores Dorchester’s Zamboni, for a budgeted cost of approximately $123,000. The building also provides change rooms and bathrooms for rink users. A staff report says the current building is “no longer deemed appropriate to house the Zamboni due to staff safety concerns.”

Bids on the project are due in by December 5, and staff say they will have a recommendation in time for the next council meeting on December 12.

Also up for approval on December 12 is a lease agreement for the space housing the Dorchester Public Library. The town will continue to rent the space from the Westmoreland Historical Society for $1100 a month. Even though plans are afoot to move the library to a rehabilitated Village Office building, Pryde told Council he felt that a formal lease agreement was necessary, especially in the case of any necessary capital repairs or improvements. The town will be able to cancel the agreement with two months notice.