Is it time for Callander to have a Zamboni machine at Bill Barber rink?
“It’s the only thing you’re missing,” long time Callander resident Mark Rich told council during its last meeting, and he wants to help make that happen. He explained that decades ago – back when Ben Bullock was Callander’s Reeve – local hockey supporters had raised funds for an arena they were trying to get built.
That project never materialized, yet there is still money within that fund, Rich noted, money that could be donated to purchase an ice resurfacer through the North Himsworth Building Fund.
Rich recalled, “In the late ‘60s, early 70s, there were two fundraisers, one was called the Athletic Association, and the other was the North Himsworth Building Fund. Both were to raise money to build an arena.”
The Municipality of Callander used to be the Township of North Himsworth until it was renamed in 2003.
Rich continued, reminding council of the many outdoor hockey games that took place in Callander, and the fundraising efforts to build an arena in town. There were too many people involved to recount, Rich noted, “But they started to raise money. Raffles, dances, and back then you could sell alcohol to make money at dances. They bought a building lot, and volunteers built a house which sold for $36,000 in the 70s.”
That money was added to the fundraising goal. Rich said, “They raised over $100,000, and you have to remember, that’s 50 years ago, and that was a lot of money.”
However, at that time, “There was not a lot of enthusiasm for an arena in Callander,” Rich said. “That dream died a long, long time ago.”
However, new dreams awaken and may materialize in an ice resurfacer.
Dee: Bill Barber Rink fans, prepare for an upgrade
Rich detailed that when Callander’s Community Centre was built, $30,000 was donated from the fundraising pot, as the second phase of the project was supposed to include an arena. That didn’t happen. “So, we had about $80,000 left over.”
The money sat in the bank, not earning much. Rich noted, “It just sat there. It should be worth over a million today, but it’s just not.”
Around a decade ago, the North Himsworth Building Fund donated $40,000 to help East Ferris purchase an ice resurfacer, Rich recalled, adding there is still around $40,000 remaining in the fund. The other week he contacted Zamboni, which manufactures machines in Brantford, to inquire about options.
Rich noted the regular size ice resurfacers are around $100,000, “But the one that goes behind a tractor, does everything the other one does, it scrapes it floods, it picks up the snow. It does everything the big Zamboni does for around $17,000 or $18,000.”
This is the option best suited for the town, Rich thought. However, the machine requires a tractor to pull it, “And $41,000 won’t cover the machine and the tractor.”
Now council must decide what to do. Municipal staff will prepare a report detailing exact costs, which will be tabled at a future meeting.
Currently, it takes two employees at least an hour to flood the ice at the Bill Barber rink.
David Briggs is a Local Journalism Initiative reporter who works out of BayToday, a publication of Village Media. The Local Journalism Initiative is funded by the Government of Canada.