Ice rink feasibility hearing set for February 13 at the library
By Mike BergerCanton selectmen on Tuesday announced the date of the long-awaited public hearing on the South Shore Ice Rink feasibility study, which will ultimately decide the fate of Canton’s Metropolis Rink.
The state Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR) will host the meeting on Monday, February 13, at 6:30 p.m. in the Community Room of the Canton Public Library.
Selectmen Victor Del Vecchio and John Connolly, who have devoted a lot of time to the rebuilding effort since the roof at the rink collapsed almost two years ago, said the meeting is long overdue but stressed that the town is now in a race against the clock to use its insurance proceeds, which have a fixed timetable.
To date, the town has received $2 million, which must be “spent down” by February 28, 2019, in order to obtain an additional $1 million in damages, they said.
“It’s about time,” said Connolly Tuesday night. “But I am so fed up with the process. I can’t believe it took six months to have this meeting. Now I am worried about the insurance money. Can you get this done under the timeframe?”
On September 20, already 19 months after the rink collapse, state officials decided to conduct additional feasibility studies before deciding where and how to replace the damaged state-owned facility. At that time, the DCR had identified three possible sites: the existing location on Route 138, the Indian Line Farm property on Route 138, and the former Norwood Junior High site on Washington Street in Norwood.
The state also said it wanted to conduct an operations and market demand analysis, including review of four operation scenarios: state built, state owned and state operated; state built, state owned and privately operated; state built, state owned and municipally operated; and privately built, privately owned and privately operated.
In a meeting with DCR officials in September, Connolly, Del Vecchio, and state Representative Bill Galvin emphasized that the community supports a facility in Canton. They added that there is pent-up demand for a publicly operated facility and the town is ready to work with the state on the project. Also at that time, DCR Commissioner Leo Roy told Connolly that he would try and expedite the project, acknowledging the lengthy delays …
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Posted by Mike Berger
on Jan 27 2017. Filed under Uncategorized.
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