New import tariffs could potentially add anywhere from $150,000 to $350,000 to the cost of the municipal ice rink.
“It’s not something anyone could have expected when we ordered these parts,” said Municipal Rink Building Committee Chair Mark Haley.
Namely, the refrigeration system, scheduled to arrive from Canada by June 19, has a $1 million price tag, according to Haley. With a 10% tariff, that’s an additional $100,000. A de-humidification plant, meanwhile, at $300,000, will be tariffed at $30,000. Rubber for the floors is also among the items coming from Canada.
Over the last several months, President Donald Trump has announced tariffs on imports that have come and gone, been elevated or relaxed. As of this week, Trump announced a 10% baseline tax on imports, with more significant tariffs on some trading partners, not including Canada.
Because of the uncertain future size of the tariffs, Haley based his information on a 10 to 25% tariff. Previously, the administration had called for a 25% tariff on imports from Canada.
Previous Coverage
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Haley said that covering those tariffs will require dipping into the contingency fund. Budgeted at $1.4 million, the fund is now down to $600,000. The contingency fund is currently among the funding sources town officials hope to use to support the purchase of solar panels.
“Anything left in the contingency would go back to the town,” Haley said. “If we pay tariffs … there’s not going to be a lot left to go back to the town.”
The exact impact of the tariffs will get clearer as the project gets closer to the delivery of the equipment, according to Haley.
But overall, the project remains on schedule.
“We’re still planning to make ice sometime in September,” he said.
On April 4, 2023, voters approved a $29.9 million debt exclusion to build the ice rink to replace the old rink, which had become unusable. Last winter, renewed estimates revealed that the cost of the building as designed was closer to $35 million. In June 2024, after the Municipal Rink Building Committee pared down design plans to bring the cost closer to $32 million, Town Meeting members appropriated an additional $1.5 million to cover the budget shortfall. Additionally, state Sen. William Brownsberger secured a $750,000 state grant to install a carbon dioxide refrigeration system.
“From a scheduling standpoint, we’re going to have an open house on [Monday, April 14] between 4 and 6 p.m. to let people walk in and see the inside of the building to give them an update, especially for Town Meeting members before Town Meeting,” Haley said.
To date, all four slabs, with the exception of the rink slab itself, have been poured, he said. Contractors are currently working on the piping—heating, insulation, freezing—so the site is prepared for the arrival of the refrigeration system.
“That’s a major milestone,” he said.
With the slabs in place, interior walls and partitions can begin to go up.
Paving and other cleanup work is also underway, he said. Once the necessary equipment arrives for the roof, work will begin on repairing the soccer field, west of the rink, which was used as a laydown (storage) area for the contractor.
