Monday, January 30, 2012

Shelburne Arena ready for next stage of upgrades


Tony Mahaney
The Shelburne Arena is entering phase two of its upgrade stage. The rink is getting roughly $453,000 worth of work done including repairs and replacement of refrigeration equipment, structural upgrades and accessibility issues. The chair of the Shelburne County Arena Association, Tony Mahaney, says they're moving ahead with their next step of renovations.
"We just finished phase one that did $500,000 worth of improvements that took care of a number of issues concerning lighting and part of the refrigeration, as well as upgrading the players' dressing rooms and washrooms. So, this phase is to accommodate the people viewing the games."
Mahaney adds, one way to help people view the games is by making the rink more accessible including building a ramp to get into the main entrance.
"Once you get into the facility, there's some upgrades that are required for the washroom facilities so that they can easily access the washrooms, as well as a small section that will be set aside for a viewing stage or viewing platform for anybody that is requiring accessibility."
Mahaney says he hopes all the upgrades will help give the arena 20-25 years of use before a new rink will be needed. He says he expects phase two will be complete by 2015.