Residents of Alberton Township, along with a few VIPS, celebrated the completion of a project that was decades in the making.
On Saturday, September 20, 2025, Alberton Township saw dozens, if not hundreds, of residents and supporters turn out to Millennium Park to officially celebrate the raising of the new Rink Roof that has been erected over the existing municipal rink, a project made possible thanks to funding from the Northern Ontario Heritage Fund Corporation (NOHFC), a funding arm of the Ontario government that helps smaller northern municipalities afford significant upgrades to amenities and public services. Alberton Mayor Mike Ford was joined by Kenora-Rainy River MPP Greg Rickford for the official ribbon cutting, putting a cap on a project that Ford explained was roughly 20 years in progress.
“We received the funding to put a new structure over the existing rink that we built in 2000,” Ford explained.
at the Alberton rink. – Tom Thompson photo (left), Travis Glowasky photos (middle and right)
“We were finally successful this year and received the funding. It’s been one of those projects that first came across the council table maybe even 15, 20 years ago.”
Putting a roof overtop of outdoor rinks has been a popular project across the Rainy River District over the past few years, and for good reason. Ford said he figures the roof will extend the usable lifespan of the outdoor rink by a significant amount of time each year, now that the elements can be a bit more finely controlled to protect the ice surface.
“Primarily, it’ll extend the season of the ice surface substantially over the winter because we’ll keep the sun from melting the ice, which we’ve run into problems before,” Ford explained.
“There was one year where it was unseasonably warm and a lot of sunshine, and we actually had to shut the rink down in February. Now, with this roof, the sun’s not going to hit the ice surface at all. And then now like with this party we had on the weekend shows, there’s opportunities to have events in it for throughout the summer. It’s a big benefit for the township, for sure.”
The Rink Roof is just the latest in reasons Alberton has had to celebrate this year. Back in June, Rickford was also down to help celebrate and learn more about $100,200 in government funding that had gone into the township’s inclusive playground for preschool aged children. At that time, Rickford had noted that the project marked an “exciting milestone” for Alberton in helping to provide an area for children of all ability levels to be able to have fun.
“Today’s official opening of the inclusive playground at Millennium Park marks an exciting milestone for the Township of Alberton, just in time for families to make memories this summer,” Rickford said at the time.
“With support from the Ontario Trillium Foundation, this investment is building a healthier, more connected community where every child can play, grow, and thrive.”
With the new rink roof, and the accessible playground, Ford noted that last weekend’s celebration offered just a glimpse of what’s now possible in the area. To properly mark the occasion, Ford said the municipality served roughly 400 hamburgers and 200 hot dogs, offered face painting and bouncy castles for children, and even had live music from local favourites The Faculty.
The roof is also not the only upgrade the municipality has done at the rink, as the mayor noted that upgrades to install a kitchen and make the facilities wheelchair accessibility were completed roughly five years ago.
“It’s just really nice to finally do stuff that benefits the whole community,” he said.
While summer may be swiftly drawing to a close, the new roof means there will be plenty of time this winter to head out to Alberton and enjoy some family time on the ice, even if it’s a bright and sunshiny day.
