SUNDRE – The ice surfaces for the town’s two outdoor rinks were ready just in time for the holidays.
Council heard at the regular Dec. 16 meeting during an extensive departmental report that both the permanent outdoor rink located on the south side of Second Avenue NW immediately adjacent the Sundre Skatepark that was finished just last year as well as the temporary rink set up at the Royal Purple Park in the northeast subdivision along the Eighth Avenue loop were expected to be ready the following day.
Expressing appreciation for all of the work administration does in preparing reports, Coun. Owen Petersen asked about the timing and why the rinks opened late in the season.
“As I understood it when we invested $300,000 to build this outdoor rink, that because it had a cement pad, it would extend the season,” said Petersen, recognizing that sometimes council approves the construction of infrastructure without perhaps adequately considering the operational impact that staff will then have to deal with.
Also understanding the ice was almost ready for the public’s use, the councillor wondered if maybe there had been any hiccups or whether any additional resources might have helped ensure the rinks would be ready sooner.
Linda Nelson, chief administrative officer, said that while new infrastructure does tend to come with a learning curve for staff to get used to, that properly preparing the ice surface requires a series of floodings.
“We do need to do a few different floodings to ensure the ice is smooth,” said Benazir Thaha Valencia, the town’s director of community development, also confirming the ice surface at both rinks would be ready by Dec. 17.
Coun. Connie Anderson added conditions this season weren’t exactly conducive to preparing outdoor ice.
“With the fall we had, you aren’t going to make ice when it’s above zero, especially on a cement pad,” said Anderson.
“It’s got to get cold enough to freeze that cement so that we can make ice afterward. And well into November, we had no frost,” he said.
