By Derek Cornet

Mel Hegland Uniplex renovations could cost more than $1 million

Aug 24, 2018 | 5:00 PM

With La Ronge Council discussing plans to spend more than $1 million at the Mel Hegland Uniplex, Ice Wolves President Grant Merriman wants residents to know how important the arena is to the team.

“We need a good facility if we’re going to have a Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League team here,” he said. “When you look around the province and some of the other venues we go to, we definitely need some upgrades to our rink.”

At a regular meeting Aug. 22, council reviewed a work plan and estimates from Associated Engineers, which presented three options for them to choose from to address moisture at the rink. At the cost of $250,000, option one was the most basic of three, essentially calling for the installation of a humidifier and some roof patching. Coun. Hugh Watt stated options two and three, which also include a dehumidifier, are similar with an estimated cost surpassing $1 million.

Council ultimately requested administration to purse options two and three in greater detail, as well as move forward on installing a dehumidifier at the cost of nearly $100,000 as soon as it can be done. The dehumidifier will be a crucial part of removing condensation from the air, Merriman said, as before games volunteers are busy cleaning windows and plexiglass with squeegees.

“That’s our community centre,” he said. “Big time we need that rink. Anything [done] to the rink is definitely going to be beneficial for the community in general.”

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Council also briefly talked about the idea about spending the money on a new rink, which was ruled out as Mayor Ron Woytowich stated the town can’t borrow the amount needed to do so at this time. A new rink would cost up to $30 million and council seemed to agree a major renovation would be needed before they can finance another one.

“It’s a fairly sound building contrary to what everyone believes in our community,” Watt said. “At the end of the day, the roof has to be fixed.”

derek.cornet@jpbg.ca

Twitter: @saskjourno