Plans for the city of Hillsboro to build an outdoor ice skating rink were tabled during a meeting of the city council’s community enhancement committee Monday because a quote from Glice, the company tentatively scheduled to the rink, came in at $194,927.38.
“We got a new updated quote Monday morning from the company, and it was triple the cost of what they originally told us,” said Hillsboro Community Enhancement Committee Chair Jo Sanborn. “At this time we decided to table it, and we’ll move back if we need to.”
She said that when they originally checked into the rink in 2022, the price to purchase was $133.031.63, with an option for a 60-day rental for $45,005.03.
The most recent rental quote for 60 days was for a 15-percent discount of the purchase price.
The planned location for the rink has not been determined. “We first wanted to get quotes and pricing, and if everything was good we would get back together and decide where we want to put it,” said Sanborn.
Hillsboro Economic Development Coordinator Lauren Walker said city council would need to agree on a price before working to determine a location for the rink. “It would be a community investment, so they would need to decide before we spend hours in planning something or days or weeks if something is not going to come to fruition,” she said.
“It’s an outdoor facility kind of like you see on your Hallmark commercials and movies,” said Walker. “It would be kind of nice to do some community development and have some projects within the community that we kind of give back and people can look forward to doing some stuff outside.”
She said the city council can contact other communities who have built skating rinks and see what has worked for them. “We don’t want to have to reinvent the wheel if we don’t have to,” she said.
Reach John Hackley at 937-402-2571.
