Colfax accepts Timber Tech offer to build new skating rink warming house

By LeAnn R. Ralph

COLFAX —  Skaters at the Tom Prince Memorial Park ice rink will be receiving a brand new warming house for Christmas.

The Colfax Village Board accepted the offer of Timber Technologies at the December 11 meeting to build a 14 x 16 foot warming house as part of Timber Tech’s Community Enrichment Program.

Dennis Warner of Timber Technologies presented the plans for the warming house to the village board.

Timber Tech will be shut down for maintenance the week of Christmas, so employees will use that time to build the warming house, Warner said.

The exterior steel of the warming house will be in a color selected by the village board, he said.

Dale Schiferl, co-owner of Timber Technologies, spoke to the Colfax Village Board at the August 14 meeting about the Timber Tech Community Enrichment Program.

Schiferl and Timber Tech co-owner Tom Niska came up with the Community Enrichment Program as a way to involve employees in the community and as a way for the company to give back to the community.

The Timber Technologies Community Enrichment Program committee is made up of several Timber Tech employees.

The projects completed during the Timber Tech Community Enrichment Program will be done during regular business hours, and Timber Tech will pay their employees to work on the projects.

Projects will be scheduled for completion in the fall and in the spring.

Schiferl said when he introduced the program in August that Timber Tech wants to “empower our own people to be part of the community.”

The warming house will be insulated and will be mounted on skids for portability, Warner said.

Because the warming house will be situated near the Red Cedar River, the structure must be portable, he said.

The warming house will have a half glass exterior door, and Timber Tech will deliver the warming house to Tom Prince Park, Warner said.

Since the warming house is 14 x 16 feet, with eight-foot sidewalls, it will take up a substantial portion of the street, and Timber Tech is asking for a police escort when the building is being moved, he said.

A new warming house, or at least the refurbishing of the existing warming house at Tom Prince Memorial Park, has been on the “to do” list for the village administrator, the Department of Public Works and the village board for several years.

Removal of the old structure and placement of the new warming house will be up to the village, Warner said.

The walls and ceiling will be insulated, but it will be up to the village to install electricity and heat if the village wants electricity and heat, he noted.

Timber Technologies “is a valuable addition to our community,” said Gary Stene, village president.

The warming house “is a good way to raise the profile of the company,” he said.

Carey Davis, village trustee, wondered whether there were any building codes that would stipulate more than one door for the warming house.

The warming house is like an ice fishing shack — it’s not permanent, said Rand Bates, director of public works.

The Colfax Village Board unanimously approved a motion to accept the offer from Timber Technologies to build a new warming house and to authorize the Department of Public Works to remove the old warming house.

Timber Tech employees are planning to deliver the new warming house the last Friday in December, Warner said.

When asked what color they preferred for the exterior walls, village board members quickly decided on the red and cream color scheme of the buildings at the Colfax Fairgrounds.

The steel for the fairground’s buildings was purchased at Menards, and Timber Tech also plans to buy the steel for the warming house at Menards.

Any community member — or a group within the community  — who has a suggestion for a project is encouraged to the put the idea in writing and submit it to Timber Technologies at 106 Bremer Avenue in Colfax.

Bobbi Scheel, the office manager at Timber Tech, also is a member of the Community Enrichment Program committee.