Local businessman giving back to community

A full-sized community ice rink could be open for skating, sporting events and general community activities as early as next winter, if local businessman Tom Gilmore has his way.

“I’ve been trying for seven or eight years to think of a community project,” Gilmore said. “I wanted something that was financially doable, not something in the millions of dollars range, and that would have the most benefit for the most people, and this fits the bill.”

Gilmore, who owns and operates Ace Hardware and Northwest Motor Sports in Libby, is in the process of forming a non-profit group and putting together a committee to begin seeing his dream come to fruition. He hopes to start fundraising and moving the project forward within the next couple of weeks. 

Even without all of the pieces in place, the project is gaining momentum in the community. Gilmore said he has been offered two pieces of property for the rink, as well as more than $15,000 in pledges, without making official solicitations for donations. The two potential sites, he said, are being vetted for a number of criteria. 

Ideally, Gilmore said the rink should have as much exposure to traffic passing through town as possible. Also important, he said, are water and power accessibility and the cost of acquisition.

“The two sites we have right now are pretty good locations,” he said. “But we’re still vetting all the details.”

Gilmore said the Kootenai River Development Council, a non-profit organization whose mission is to promote economic development in the greater Libby area, has offered their non-profit status as an umbrella until his 501(c)3 is officially approved by the Internal Revenue Service. The official non-profit status allows donors to write off the money they give to the project as a charitable contribution.

The goal for the project, Gilmore said, is to provide recreation opportunities for local residents, especially during a time of the year when opportunities are limited due to weather. An ice rink, he said, provides several opportunities such as figure skating, recreational skating, organized hockey and curling. In addition to recreation, the rink should also provide a boost to the local economy.

“It will be a place for locals to recreate and have fun,” he said. “But it will also become an economic asset for the county, with people coming from all over to participate in and watch events. Any time you fill up a parking lot with 200 to 300 cars, there’s something going on. There’s a reason to stop by and see what’s up.”

Gilmore did his homework before deciding on the ice rink as his project. He said there’s a broad demand for such a venue and envisions a constant stream of visitors and locals enjoying the ice.

“Every rink within 800 miles of here is overwhelmed with requests,” Gilmore said. “They don’t have enough hours in a day to meet all the requests for time.”

People coming to skate and to hold the various events, he said, will stay in local motels, eat in local restaurants and buy from local shops. They will also return year after year and bring more people back to Libby with each successive visit.

Gilmore is no stranger to the ice. Growing up in Connecticut and Ohio, he played on city hockey leagues as a kid. Nearly 20 years ago, while owning a sporting goods store in Polson, he organized a similar effort to build an ice rink in that community. 

Gilmore said he basically lived in the rink’s shed for months at a time, catching a couple of hours of sleep and then waking up to pour water on the rink to make more ice. The rink was unrefrigerated, so temperatures increasing above 38 or 39 degrees caused the ice to turn to slush, making use impossible. For that reason, Gilmore said the installation of refrigeration into Libby’s ice rink is mandatory. He wants to build a facility locals and visitors can use from October well into the spring months.

He anticipates the project will cost around $250,000, including all of the equipment needed to maintain and operate the facility. He envisions a refrigerated, outdoor rink with an enclosed shed to house the refrigeration and resurfacing equipment. He also hopes to be able to provide skate rental, concessions and other amenities as the rink grows in popularity.

He said costs may be a bit lower if he can acquire used or refurbished equipment and if some parts, such as the dasher boards around the rink, are eliminated. He hopes, however, such measures don’t become necessary.

Gilmore is actively seeking volunteers willing to work on the committee to organize the project.

“I need some community-minded people to help out,” he said. “With the short time frame, we need people with a real commitment of time and effort to get things done.”