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The Beaverdome Renovations are complete, and the project came in nearly on budget

The renovation was brought before council one more time during the April 8th meeting
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By Kevin J Sabo

For the Advance

The Beaverdome renovation was brought before council one more time during the April 8th meeting.

Nearly $1 million worth of renovations later, the final bills have been received and the verdict is that the project came in around $30,000 under budget as far as dollars spent. Factoring in the in-kind donations made by various local businesses and the Town staff and equipment who worked on the project, the final number comes in around $10,000 over budget.

“Approximately $20,000 worth of goods and services were supplied by the town,” said CAO Christopher Robblee.

These numbers come a few weeks after a request was made by local resident Tina Hronek for the Town to repay some money that she believes was raised for the renovation project but was used improperly.

The money in question was nearly $80,000 approved by the Rec Board in 2014 to pay for an emergency shutoff alarm system, signage, and other work in the plant room. A further $5,000 was used from the ‘Castor Rocks’ fund to pay for swimming pool maintenance, which Hronek said was supposed to go towards the arena renovation.

In a written response to Hronek, Mayor Richard Elhard said that the ‘Castor Rocks’ account was set up as primarily an arena fundraiser, however it also recognised other capital projects required by Castor Minor Sports.

In his written response he also indicates that the nearly $80,000 spent on the plant room at the arena came out of the “arena improvement fund,” however the Rec Board did authorize the expenditure and there has been no request from the board to ask the Town to reimburse the funds.

Hronek’s final request was also denied by council.

“I am requesting that the Town of Castor make a financial commitment towards the arena renovation project, thus earning a spot on the sponsorship wall,” Hronek wrote in her request.

Council’s denial of the request, dated Feb 26th, is based on the arena running around $80,000 per year in deficit. This shortfall is made up by the Town.

“While you may not see a cash donation from the Town of Castor, there’s clearly a great deal of financial support directed at the arena,” wrote Mayor Elhard to Hronek by way of closing.