By Marc Robertson
First, I would like to thank the community and all of our great supporters from near and far who have risen to the call and given generously to help us meet our fundraising goal. The Winthrop Ice & Sports Rink board asked you to help match the state grant we received and you did just that. With these pledged funds and your continued help, which we still greatly need, we will be able to finish the final phase of creating a reliable ice rink and quality facility for valley residents and visitors to enjoy.
The beauty of this phase will be the fulfillment of visions I had back in the early 1990s for an ice rink that could be an anchor for wintertime sports in the valley — open by Thanksgiving and remaining open until March, thereby guaranteeing the community and all visitors a place to recreate in the Methow Valley at both ends of the winter season. Although the rink is a nonprofit and aims only to cover its operational costs, the boost to the local economy with this extended season would be great.
To accomplish this lofty goal I have volunteered the next five months to do two things:
• Coordinate and oversee the project, which includes building the new rental and changing rooms along with installing the refrigerated slab. This is a daunting task, but any of you who know me know that I am a tireless worker and, like in 2007, when I was faced with the loss of my son Evan in a tragic accident, I rose up with the community’s support. With Evan in mind and spirit driving me, I set about building the rink. I could not have done this without the support of many local trades people, friends of the rink and other people who simply wanted to see the project succeed. I am so thankful for all their help.
• I also promised my board and the community that I would raise $70,000 in local match money through donations of materials and labor to build this final phase. This year’s project is even more complex than in 2007, but I know it’s 100 percent achievable. We have hired an ice rink consultant who will direct our efforts on the refrigeration project. But I need help, and lots of it. If you could help, even a little bit, it would be huge to our success. Check out the list below and see where you can pitch in. Then contact the rink manager, Sharla Lynn, at winthropicerink@gmail.com or 996-4199 as soon as possible to let her know in what capacity you are able to help as well as the amount of time you could commit to. And pass the word on. If you know someone with some expertise in one of these following areas, please contact them and see if they would be willing to help.
The project is broken down into phases that may overlap, and timing will be approximate and dependent on subcontractors, who may be delayed due to their very busy schedules.
I haven’t listed our material needs but we will need any and all types of building materials including fencing. If you have access to any building materials or have left over ones from another project please let us know what these are and we will see if we can put them to use.
In early May we need: Labor to remove the ice rink boards and store them offsite for the summer; labor to remove fencing, which will be rebuilt later in the summer; fiberglass work as the ice rink dasher boards need some repairs and will require some power washing, sanding, grinding, glass work and repainting.
Between mid May and mid June: Truck drivers to drive dump trucks to haul material away and bring sand and bedding materials in; equipment operators to run backhoes or excavators; laborers and flaggers to assist with truck traffic.
Late May-early June: Plumbers to assist with laying out the sewer and water lines; electricians to assist with setting transformers, step-down transformers and disconnect running power back to our existing panels and for the refrigeration plant out back; laborers to help tie steel and assist subcontract trades; concrete finishers for slab pour of new rental and changing rooms.
Mid June into mid July: Frame up rental and changing room addition; framers and laborers to construct building; painters and laborers to pre-finish siding; roofers, electricians to wire building; insulators, sheet rockers, painters and finish carpenters.
Mid July to mid August: Form and pour perimeter wall to house ice rink slab; laborers to lay sand bed, insulation, tie steel and refrigeration tubing; rebuild fencing to match pedestrian bridge fencing along east and west boundaries.
September: Laborers to help pour the main ice rink slab.
Mid September to mid October: Laborers to reassemble dasher boards; forming and pouring of sidewalks; landscaping help.
You can see the list of needs is long, but I am confident we will prevail. Thank you for all your support over the past 18 years as the rink has evolved. This is the final phase and with your continued help, we will complete this awesome project. Then we can stand back and say, “We did that. Now there’s a legacy!”
Marc Robertson is a board member of the Winthrop Ice & Sports Rink and lives in Winthrop.
