Ice Rink Expansion | Methow Grist

Preliminary drawings of an addition to the south end of the existing Winthrop Ice and Sports Rink building. Locker rooms and bathrooms for visiting hockey teams as well as a new public restroom are planned. Drawings by David Stipe used with permission of Winthrop Ice and Sports Rink board.

Behind the scenes, work on the $1 million improvement project for the outdoor Winthrop ice rink is moving forward with a planned completion date of November 2015, according to board president Jill Calvert.

David Stipe of Project Groundwork in Wenatchee is donating time to do site plans, and his preliminary drawings were discussed at the October 30 rink board meeting, she said. They are going back to Stipe for tweaking.

The non-profit Winthrop Ice and Sports Rink (WISR) board also has agreed on a schedule of target dates by which it wants to complete specific tasks. That list includes having specs ready to go out to bid by October 2014, having a contract awarded by February 2015. Construction is expected to start by May 2015, Calvert added.

One thing that will kick off in another month or so is a community drive to raise the remaining $350,000 needed, Calvert said. That likely will coincide with the December 1 deadline for finished site plans.

“This year and next year, the rink will function as is,” she said of the nearly six-year-old facility. That means dates of operation will be weather dependent.

The new rink will be refrigerated, thereby expanding its season, and the existing building will be expanded to include locker rooms and bathrooms for visiting hockey teams as well as a new public restroom near the Susie Stephens trail and Methow Valley Sport Trails Association community trailhead.

Eventually, WISR plans to host hockey tournaments five to six times a year at non-holiday times, Calvert said. This winter six “hot-shot youth hockey teams” from the Seattle area will return for a multi-day tournament. Calvert said when the organizer sent out a notice, “the tournament sold out in 38 minutes!” Each of the six teams will pay $1,500, plus the families are expected to fill 80 hotel/motel rooms, she added.

The new rink project received a $497,000 grant from the Washington State Recreation and Conservation Office earlier this year. That fund will be matched with local money, including a substantial portion of the $100,000-plus bequest WISR received from the late Red McComb.

The state grant money is being funneled through the Town of Winthrop, which owns the land and rink facilities. WISR manages and operates the rink.

Town Planner Rocklynn Culp said soil tests and a site examination by the State Department of Archeology and Historic Preservation will happen before a building permit is issued.

Good for the rink and its skaters. But perhaps in the renovation of the rink, some effort could be made to upgrade the lighting to avoid bombarding the local community and roadways with its blinding glare. The community would be ever so appreciative.