Funding secured for leisure centre ice plant

Moray Council has been awarded a grant of almost £216,000 from Scotland’s national agency for sport, sportscotland, towards the cost of replacing the ageing ice plant at the Moray Leisure Centre in Elgin.

The award from sportscotland will enable the new plant to be installed by the end of this year.

Earlier this year the council itself agreed to meet 50% of the replacement costs plus the full cost of a new ice surface machine for the centre’s ice rink – a total commitment from the council of around £275,000.

The existing ice plant – which is more than 20 years old and uses a refrigerant now banned because of its impact on the environment – will be replaced by a packaged chiller using a more environmentally acceptable refrigerant.

Preparatory work to the leisure centre plant and compound was undertaken during the scheduled maintenance period in late summer.

The new chiller will be installed in late December or early January with no disruption to the operation of the ice rink.

Stewart Harris, chief executive of sportscotland said: “At sportscotland our mission is to build a world class sporting system for everyone in Scotland.We want to see more and better opportunities for people to take part in sport at every level.

“Replacing the outdated ice plant at Moray Leisure Centre will ensure that the local community can continue to enjoy a range of ice sports right at the heart of the community which is why we were delighted to invest £215,872 in the project.”