Rinks to stay closed
Most of the city’s outdoor ice rinks are now closed for the season, but eager skaters can still lace up at a few rinks until the end of the March Break.
City councillors decided not to re-open the 41 rinks that closed at the beginning of March after a recent city debate on whether the pads should remain open until Mar. 16.
However, eight rinks, including the Kew Gardens Arena at the foot of Lee Ave., will remain open — weather permitting.
Keeping all 49 rinks open until mid-March wouldn’t have been a good idea, says parks manager Kevin Bowser.
It would have cost up to $380,000 for the extra two weeks, Bowser said, adding more sunshine for March means the ice is susceptible to softening.
“If we do get a significant change in the weather, if it gets warmer or there is lots of sunshine,” he said. “We would close those eight locations down before the end of March Break.”
Councillor Case Ootes, who asked council to keep rinks open, says he is disappointed with council’s decision.
“We continue to have a cold spell, so I think it’s disappointing to kids and their families,” he said. “When it’s cold weather, they expect to be able to use their rinks.”
But Councillor Sandra Bussin disagrees.
She says it wouldn’t have made sense to re-open the rinks because by the time they were able to open, the March Break would be just about over.
“It would take at least for or five days even to begin the recall, let alone to bring contractors back to start the compressors again to get the ice rinks functioning,” she said.
Ootes said he asked the mayor’s office to keep rinks open before their early March closing date, noting it would have cost a lot less to keep them open.
The city could have found the money to keep the rinks operational if council had supported the plan, he added.
“We have $40 million worth of grants each year, and certainly part of that money could have been used to keep the rinks open,” he said. “Because that’s what the public expects.”
In the fall, credit card company MasterCard donated $160,000 to keep the rinks running. The gift followed an announcement that all outdoor city rinks would be closed due to financial problems.
Next year, staff will consider particular weather conditions in March before deciding to close them, Ootes said.
But Bowser says the city does look at weather patterns to determine when to close most rinks, but typically, the weather in early March is too unpredictable to keep them all open.
For other March Break activities, Bussin suggests participating in programs at local libraries and the YMCA, as well as a skate at Kew Gardens or the indoor rink at the Beaches Sports Centre.