Gilford ice rink to open mid-January, weather permitting

GILFORD — Temperatures are hitting single digits at night in the Lakes Region this week, and town leaders are keeping their fingers crossed they stay that way so they can flood the ice rink and get it ready to open next month.

The sideboards arrived at the Arthur A. Tilton Gilford Ice Rink on Monday, and installation began early Tuesday morning. Town Administrator Scott Dunn said all indications point to being ready in a couple weeks’ time.

“We have to lay down a liner and flood it, so hopefully it will all be open by mid-January, depending on the weather,” Dunn said.

On Tuesday morning, Donny Emerson of Sport Court Northeast was at the rink, surrounded by bundles of sideboards ready to be installed. He surveyed the area, and moved the boards one by one to their proper locations. After installing the first, he went back to the bundles with his hand truck and walked them across the rink to be fitted into the puzzle.

This will be done one by one, and while Dunn thought it could take as many as seven to eight days, Emerson said it could be even less than that.

“The boards should be done in a couple days,” Emerson said. “We have the liner here, but someone else is installing that.”

The selectboard voted on Nov. 12, to use $74,786.59 in unanticipated revenue to upgrade to larger sideboards for the rink. These funds came through the Concord Regional Solid Waste Recovery Cooperative, received by the town through a land sale. The board sizes increased from 8 to 10 inches, and the thickness of the liner also expanded from 6 to 10 mm.

The delivery and the installation are done by Sport Court Northeast, a North Andover, Massachusetts-based company with more than three decades of experience in designing, installing, and maintaining courts across the country. The installation is part of the nearly $140,000-project, approved on Oct. 22 by the selectboard. The upgraded size of the boards and liners increased the total by $1,888.70, but stayed within the parameters of the grant funding.

Dunn said once the boards are up, a town employee will lay down the liner before it is flooded, and then it needs time to freeze into ice.

The rink has a roof, but is open on its sides, which gives the advantage that it's shielded from snowfall or rain while ice thickens. The liner will be on top of a brand new slab of concrete. The new boards replaced dilapidated ones, and Dunn was excited about the upgrade and the public's opportunity to use the rink.

In addition to the ice rink improvements, there will also be pickleball courts added to the area in the spring, turning the facility from one only used in the winter, to one that can be used year-round.

“I think what I’m most looking forward to is seeing five pickleball courts out there,” Dunn said. “Come spring, we will do the sealing, painting and all the lines.

The pickleball portion of the project still has some steps to complete, as there needs to be acrylic surfacing and colored lines installed. This will take place when the weather warms up, as it needs to be 55 degrees or warmer. Dunn said while the selectboard hasn’t awarded a contract yet, they have narrowed it down to two bidders. Some aspects of the project, such as sealing cracks, have already been done, so they were working on getting pricing for what the rest of the work will entail.

“We asked them to look at the process, and since we already sealed the cracks, we hope they will be lowered,” Dunn said.

The selectboard is expected to vote on the contract before spring.

Another major part of the project was the removal of incandescent lighting and replacing it with LED lights, thanks to a $7,115 grant through Eversource.

There is no cost to the taxpayers for the project, as the main source is the Land and Water Conservation grant of $150,000.

Once it is open, the parks & rec department will post times for “stick and puck,” and Dunn said any hockey on the ice will be informal. All other times, it will be open for public use.

The funds were through a Land and Water Conservation Fund grant, and a stipulation was the rink would be free and open to the public. This means visitors from surrounding towns will also be able to take advantage of the upgraded rink.

“Because it is funded through a federal grant, there can be no residency restrictions, and no charge to use it,” Dunn said.

The rink will be open 24/7, with lights on until 10 p.m.