Members of the Wallkill Lions Club approached the Shawangunk board recently with a proposal of frosty proportions: a refrigeration system for the pavilion at Popp Park, ensuring a stable ice rink for future winters.

Every year, the Wallkill Lions Club transforms Popp Park into an ice rink for its annual ice curling tournament, among other activities for residents. Over the last few years, changes in climate during the season have rendered the ice rink less usable, to the extent that the club canceled this year’s ice curling tournament.

“We have been installing an ice rink at Popp’s pavilion every winter now for the past nine years. It’s becoming a little more challenging with the changing weather patterns that we’re all confronted with,” said David LaSpada, president of the Wallkill Lions Club. “This past winter, we had people skate on the rink for three days in mid-January. We put a lot of time and effort into it and that’s all we’re told we’re getting out, so we can’t rely on Mother Nature anymore.”

The club’s solution would be to install a portable ice unit in the pavilion that would maintain the rink throughout winter. The Lions Club would be in charge of the ice rink’s installation and maintenance throughout the season. Once spring arrives, the club’s members would pack the unit away so that residents can use the pavilion as normal. LaSpada estimated that the unit’s kit would cost $110,000; the town board would require a grant to fund the project, which the Lions Club is willing to match.

“We did some research and came up with a system that is a portable refrigerated ice unit,” LaSpada said. “This is portable in the sense that it’s installed every fall and it’s removed in the spring, so what’s left is the same pavilion that we have already now with for summer use.”

LaSpada added that the town could host many more ice-skating activities with this unit, from family skating nights to holiday extravaganzas.

“Imagine the possibilities if we had a skating rink that we can rely on guaranteed ice for the entire winter,” he said. “We envisioned having certain events on this. Family skating each night, we can have Christmas spectaculars, festivals and parties on ice, and music. And yes, maybe even a curling tournament.”

After some discussion over the technical aspects of the unit, the board’s members agreed with LaSpada sentiment and motioned to move forward with the idea. Supervisor Ken Ronk Jr. stated that he and LaSpada would work together with the town’s grant writer to brainstorm funding for the unit.

“For our next steps, I’m going to meet with our grant writer virtually, and then I’ll see about putting them in touch with you, Dave,” Ronk said. “And maybe we can have a conference call or a Zoom meeting or something where we can talk about potential funding sources.”