The opening of the Winnipegosis Arena has been delayed.
"We tried to start up the plant about two weeks ago," said Mossey River Municipality Reeve Reynald Sahlka. "What happened was the plants kicked out and we had to call in some technicians to come and look at the plant. They discovered that there was a failure of the heat exchangers on the plants, which caused the failure of both units not to make ice on the surface. Now we are also without heat in the building as well.
Sahulka adds they are exploring all options for getting the building open.
"We are not sure of the timelines. We are checking with our geothermal contractor at this point to see what is the availability of new plants or replacement parts. We are unsure of which direction we are going right now. It depends on availability and timelines and stuff like that."
Sahulka says the arena is a hub for the Winnipegosis community, adding they hope to have this situation rectified in a timely manner.
"Without (the arena), the kids have no place to go for the winter. We do have the Fork River rink, but that is going to be natural ice. If we can not get our plant replaced in a timely fashion, we may have to revert back to natural ice in the arena again, if we have to. That is an option for us as well. Hopefully, the contractors will pull through for us and get this done in a timely fashion."
