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A group of Grand Isle residents wants to build a year-round recreation pavilion in town, including what would be the only ice rink on the Lake Champlain Islands.

The facility would be located at Donaldson Park in Grand Isle, which is east of Route 2 near the town’s state park, according to early plans. The rink would be artificially cooled and operate during the coldest four to five months of the year. A dry surface underneath could be used for other sports and for community events.

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The local residents are setting up a nonprofit to manage the facility called the Islands Community Pavilion Association. They’ve discussed the project at several town government meetings this year, including a special selectboard meeting April 7. 

At that meeting, the board voted unanimously to support the group’s application for a $60,000 Vermont Community Development Program grant, which group member Levi Kraemer said would fund design and environmental review work for the project.

Kraemer, whose family owns the local brewery Kraemer & Kin, and Roth Perry, another local resident involved in the project, said the idea stemmed from their mutual interest in having a hockey rink on-island, to avoid needing to drive to a neighboring county to play. 

In talking to neighbors about the project, though, Kraemer said they also found interest in other uses for a covered outdoor space, such as basketball and pickleball courts, a summer concert series and a location for the Champlain Islands Farmers Market.

“It changed from a hockey project to a community project,” Kraemer said. “And that's when we started really getting some good traction.”

Josie Leavitt, vice chair of the Grand Isle Selectboard, said the group needed the board to sign off on its grant application to advance the process, but that does not mean the board has endorsed the project. If it were to move forward, she said, the town would hold a forum on the project where details worked out with grant funding could be presented to town residents.

Perry said the group is eyeing a design based on a soft sports court surface with lines for games such as basketball and pickleball, which could then be covered with layers of ice and a plastic liner during colder months to create a rink surface. The facility would be covered on top but open on all sides, with coolant circulating through a concrete base underneath to keep the ice at a consistent temperature.

Perry estimated the structure would cost about $1.5 million to build, with a third of that cost going toward solar panels on the roof that would power the cooling system. Work funded by the grant would allow them to firm up a cost, he said.

The group does not want Grand Isle residents to foot the bill for the facility, Perry said, so it’s aiming to fund its construction with grants, which the town could access, and private donations. He said getting the community development grant would give the project legitimacy that could make it more attractive to local donors.

Perry added that the residents planning the facility are willing to manage it if it’s built, and believe they could pay for operations by renting it out to local organizations. At a recent selectboard meeting, he said they are not looking to profit off the pavilion.

At last week’s meeting, Perry said the project has garnered support from the local farmers market, Island Stage Vermont Theater and the Islands Pickleball Association.

Pickleball is immensely popular on the Champlain Islands. The association has hosted hundreds of games annually over the past several years.

Noni Stuart, president of Island Stage, said at the meeting she strongly supported the project, noting the islands currently do not have enough performance venues.

“Really the only viable theater is in North Hero,” she said. “And that's a wonderful space, but we don't have anything further south.”

Perry also pointed to a survey his group conducted, which found that about 75% of 290 respondents were interested in playing hockey at a rink in town, while about 85% were interested in using facilities for other sports. Grand Isle has about 2,000 residents.

Andy Julow, executive director of the Lake Champlain Islands Economic Development Corp., said if conditions permit, residents can play hockey anywhere on the lake. 

But the ice around the islands is only ever groomed for the annual Great Ice Festival, he said, which takes place over President’s Day weekend on North Hero’s City Bay.

“You think, ‘We're surrounded by water, there wouldn't be such a need for an ice rink,’ Julow said. “But the lake can become rough unless you have a way to groom it. Something like (a rink) that’s cleared and groomed would be great.”

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Shaun Robinson is a Report for America corps member with a special focus on issues of importance to Franklin and Grand Isle counties. He is a journalism graduate of Boston University, with a minor in political science. His work has appeared in the Boston Globe, the Patriot Ledger of Quincy and the Cape Cod Times.

View all stories by Shaun Robinson

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