Making an outdoor ice rink is common in Canada as a lot of people do it to play hockey on or even just for skating. A lot of towns and cities will have at least one community ice rink for everyone to get out and enjoy. London has a few different spots, one of them is the ice rink at Victoria park, another one is the rink at Covent Gardens. With the way the weather has been this winter it made me wonder what kind of effect that has had on maintaining an outdoor ice rink.
A lot of work goes into making an outdoor ice rink. There are skating rink kits that are sold at Canadian Tire. There are other ways though, you can build up a border and then put down a liner. After that gradually put water in little by little till you have at least 2 inches of ice. Then it’s just maintaining by keeping it cleaned off and doing the odd flood with typically a water hose.
Victoria Park is one of London’s most popular spots to go for a skate with family and friends. When talking with Mike Reidy who works for the city of London in Parks and Recreation and overlooks the ice rinks at Victoria park and Covent Gardens he said, “When the weather is good and the rinks are open on a regular schedule that 800-1000 people can cross the rinks daily”.
I talked with Bob Usher who works at Covent Gardens and he said, “We had to open up two weeks later then our usual date but since we have opened it has been good and we’ve only had to close 2 other days”. Usher also said with the way the weather is looking now they should be good to go for the rest of the season.
There are many outdoor rinks between them being a community rink or one your family or friend has built in their backyard. They are used a lot for hockey but sometimes just for skating. A lot of time and work goes into building and maintaining an ice rink but in the end its all worth the good times and memories.
