Town makes upgrades to AGT Centre, renews Minor Ball agreement

By Ian MacKay

Town workers had adjustments to make because of the new boards at the AGT Centre.

“We had to move the (score) clock up,” recreation director Kelli Emmons told councillors during their Dec. 15 regular meeting. The new board system had a bar that blocked part of the clock showing penalty minutes, Emmons said.

“It was hard for players, coaches, and the worker in the penalty box to see how much time was left, so we had to raise it two to three feet,” she explained. Workers also had to build a support structure to hold it at its higher location and lift it into place.

A replacement boiler “was installed and running” at the arena, she added. The previous boiler, serving the east side of the arena, stopped working when a vent motor failed, councillors were told during their Dec. 1 meeting.

That left one boiler to heat the entire arena and provide hot water, Emmons said on Dec. 15.

“If that one had gone down, everything probably would have frozen, because we were pretty cold there for a few days, and everything is heated through the hot water,” she said.

Additionally, the arena sound system wasn’t working properly, so she borrowed a Bluetooth unit to test over a weekend.

“It seemed to be running pretty well,” she said, adding that she planned to get prices for upgrading the system. Those who organized the Female Showcase hockey event in November will direct some of its proceeds to the project.

An air-quality test is still needed for the gun range in the basement of the swimming pool after staff cleaned out most of the drywall and insulation, Emmons said. The area had been damaged by water seeping in, councillors learned on Dec. 1.

Council members also approved renewing an agreement with the Rosetown Minor Athletics Association for maintaining the ball diamonds at the sports grounds and Walter Aseltine School. The two-year agreement pays the association’s minor ball division $5,000 a year and provides certain supplies, such as paint for dugouts, while handling scheduling, major repairs, and maintenance of the sports grounds’ sprinkler system.

The association hires staff to keep the grounds, bleachers, dugouts, and washrooms clean, and to level diamonds before games—or twice a week for those on the school grounds during May and June. It also pays $500 a year for diamond rental.

“They’ve done a really nice job out there,” Mayor Trevor Hay said, adding that “the diamonds look really nice” and the agreement “frees up” parks staff to work in other areas.

“A lot of out-of-town teams will make comments about the diamonds and what good shape they’re in,” Emmons added.