OLDS — Workers began the initial work of installing boards on the pad of the new outdoor ice rink in Centennial Park last week.
If all goes well, the boards should be all up by Monday and if the weather is right, the rink could be flooded and ready for skating by the end of the month, operations director Scott Grieco said during an interview.
That could be a big ‘if,’ he admitted.
Grieco said for good ice rink flooding, the temperature has to be just right – not too warm and not too cold. He said a range of –10 to –20 for several days would be good, with –10 being “ideal.”
Lately, temperatures have been well above that. Late last week, the 14-day forecast was for highs in the –3 range and lows in around –9, according to the Weather Network.
“We’re against Mother Nature. She’s either with us or against us,” Grieco said with a light laugh.
“If Mother Nature’s on our side and we get a little more winter, we could foreseeably be skating at the end of the month.
“If the weather doesn’t co-operate, then we might not get skating this year. But we’re doing our best to get this thing up.”
Late last week, some boards were scattered around and on the concrete pad for the rink. Workers could be seen chipping away carefully at snow and ice on top of that pad.
Grieco said that’s because the boards will be bolted down to the pad and that pad is “very, very expensive,” so they didn’t want to damage it.
He said the pad is deliberately larger than the rink itself will be so that if they wish, spectators will be able to stand right on the pad behind the boards to see the action.
Grieco said the company doing the installation is not local, because work is very specialized, but some employees may be local.
The initial goal was to have the boards, which are specially designed and created, installed in December, but supply chain issues made that impossible.
Lights have been installed and are on a timer.
Grieco, a former Western Hockey League player, was asked if he’d use the rink.
He laughed.
“Absolutely. Actually I do intend on using the outdoor rink myself,” he said.
Once the ice goes out in the spring, the plan is for the pad to be used for pickleball and lacrosse. So the next step will be to put in lines for pickleball.
Grieco said those lines won’t simply be painted or chalked on – they’ll be acid-etched into the concrete. That way, he said, they should last for years.
He said to his knowledge, there are no plans to etch in lines for lacrosse, but they might be painted in.
