OLDS — Plans call for 11 outdoor skating rinks to be located in Olds this winter, starting as early as the Christmas season.
Ten will be located in various locations in the town and one will be located in the tennis courts at Olds College, provided jointly by the Town of Olds and Olds College. However, it may not be ready for use until some time in January.
Fire chief Justin Andrew, community services director Doug Wagstaff and operations director Scott Greico made that announcement during town council’s Dec. 13 meeting.
At that time firefighters and operations staff had started creating ice for one rink – located in the École Deer Meadow School area.
However, plans were afoot to create others at various parks throughout Olds as well as the one at the college.
Last year, the Town of Olds piloted the creation of several outdoor skating rinks as a way to help people have some outdoor recreation opportunities during COVID.
This year, a rink at the new Rotary Athletic Park and the Olds College rink are being added to the list.
Wagstaff said updates on the progress of the rinks will be posted to social media because conditions change frequently. In fact, Andrew warned that if temperatures rise too high they could end up just creating “a bit of a slough” at these sites.
Council was told that signs will be erected warning users to skate at their own risk – especially at the town’s three retention ponds. Users will also be urged to wear helmets to keep safe, but it’s not mandatory to do so.
Andrew said kids have been so excited to get out and skate that they’ve been skating on the Deer Meadow one even though crews had barely started flooding there.
“It’s been interesting, because already I saw kids out using it, even though the quality is poor at this time. But who am I to say ‘no,’” he said.
“We do chase them away when we start using our hoses. It’s amazing how many kids don’t want to be there when we do that,” he added with a laugh.
Wagstaff said at the moment, at least 10 of the 11 rinks won’t have lights. There’s still a possibility that lights can be used at the college one.
Town officials are looking for volunteers to come forward to clear snow from the rinks. He said some have already come forward to do so.
This year, benches created by operations manager Dale Rankel and his staff will be set up at the rinks. Some users had indicated last year that it would be nice to have some.
“I think when you see these benches you’ll be very, very impressed. So kudos to Dale and the team for putting the benches together,” Greico said.
“And also for maintaining the rinks, because there’s obviously garbage and some additional maintenance throughout the community with the rinks.”
Signs acknowledging the contributions of the fire department, the Town of Olds staff, and FCSS (Family Community Support Services) will be installed, he said.
“Do we designate any of these sites as pleasure skating only or it’s a free-for-all, open for any type of use," Coun. Darren Wilson asked.
"None of them have boards, but they are open for whatever use that the users show up with. So we haven’t designated any of them ‘stick-free,’” Wagstaff said.
Mayor Judy Dahl described the announcement as “good news.”
“I just love watching small kids skate around on bumpy ice, because that’s all we could afford when we were kids,” Dahl said.
Greico, a former major junior hockey player, agreed.
“I love skating and thanks to Dale and his crew for making that happen,” Greico said.
