​Township okays tender to replace ice plant at Ripley-Huron Community Centre

Huron-Kinloss council has given the green light to a tender from CIMCO Refrigeration to supply and install the Ripley-Huron Community Centre ice plant, for a total cost of $506,425 plus HST.

The issue came to council at its meeting Wednesday night (Feb. 18).

Community services director Mike Fair stated that staff tendered the project in January and received three submissions, with CIMCO having the lowest bid. The budget for the project is $565,000.

After reviewing the submissions, staff negotiated the following changes with CIMCO:
 

• Removal of condenser stand drawings (roof top installation) - a savings of $6,500
• Adding a back-up thermostat control, at a cost of $9,847 plus HST
• Adding safety alerts, at a cost of $3,090 plus HST

Fair explained that the township, with support from the Ontario Community Sport and Recreation Infrastructure Fund, is completing the following projects in the capital budget:
 

• Ripley-Huron Community Centre ice plant replacement - the mechanical system responsible for freezing and maintaining the arena floor
• Storage addition for user groups
• Lucknow Community Centre roof (completed in 2025)

The total cost of these projects is just over $1-million, with funding of $529,500 from the Province of Ontario.

Fair said that the ice plant ventilation system, and roof I-beams to support the condenser, are being sourced from other contractors. The estimated cost for the remaining work is $20,000.

The ice plant replacement portion of this project is estimated to be under-budget by $25,000.