For people who love outdoor hockey, this was supposed to be a great year.
Tons of snow in December and sub-zero temperatures had Ottawa’s outdoor rinks up and running in time for Christmas.
And then it was all gone. The snow, the cold and, worst of all, the rinks.
The cold weather has now returned, and with it some more snow, but Ottawa’s rinks are still in bad shape and residents have themselves to blame.
The outdoor rinks took a beating in early January. Warm weather melted some rinks down to almost nothing. In fact, on several rinks, grass and mud could be seen in some spots protruding through the ice.
“It wasn’t the best situation,” says Kelly Robertson, a parks and recreation division manager with the City of Ottawa. “Especially since we got off to a promising start.”
On Jan. 9, the City of Ottawa put out a press release asking all residents to stay off the outdoor skating rinks.
The reasoning was simple. The warm weather in early January melted away most of the snow and ice, leaving only a thin, brittle layer of ice behind. When people skated on this fragile surface, it cracked.
And while the rinks deteriorated, volunteers could do nothing because it was too warm for them to flood the ice.
People skating and playing hockey scraped away the brittle ice and ruined hours of hard work.
The city issued its press release because volunteers called and asked for city staff to keep skaters off the rinks.
Unfortunately, no one paid any attention.
Now, many volunteers are rebuilding from square one. Some are even waiting for more snow so they can create a base of about six inches of snow and ice so they can re-flood the ice.
And, the rinks that did survive are in bad shape.
They are bumpy and have large patches of cracked and broken ice.
People seem to take it for granted that there is a rink in their neighbourhood.
Rinks exist only through the hard work of volunteers. These are the people who shovel the ice after it snows. They are the ones standing out in freezing temperatures applying a fresh layer of water each night.
By ignoring the city’s call for people to stay off the ice, residents have created even more work for the people who already devote hours of their spare time to create enjoyment for others.
No one can deny that the warm weather has hurt Ottawa’s outdoor rinks. Robertson says that the mild conditions may even force the city to look into alternative methods of meeting people’s skating needs.
One option is to build more artificially refrigerated rinks, like the one at 101 Centrepointe Dr. However, while many residents would welcome the addition of rinks that wouldn’t melt away if the temperatures move slightly above zero, it’s too late to help this year’s situation.
For now, the people who will fix Ottawa’s damaged rinks are the volunteers.
And they will do it despite the unusual weather and the damage caused by people skating.
People need to realize that skating on the rinks only made them worse.
And, the only way to fix them, is by showing a little patience and staying off the ice.