An artist’s illustration of the Rink of Dreams on Marian Dewar Plaza at city hall
When January arrives, Ottawa residents will no longer have to strap on their skates on the Rideau Canal.
A 1,160-square-metre skating surface called The Rink of Dreams is to open somewhere early next year outside of city hall. It will feature a refrigerated ice system to keep the surface in perfect skating condition, no matter what the temperature is.
The rink, which will be built on Marion Dewar Plaza, will be similar to the one at Nathan Phillips Square in Toronto.
It is something that the Senators Sports and Entertainment Group came up with on a trip to another Canadian city.
“Our president, Cyril Leeder, ended up going to the (2009 NHL) All-Star game in Montreal and went for a skate on one of the rinks and loved it so much he thought it would be great to have one in Ottawa, and so he spear-headed the initiative,” says Aaron Robinson of Ottawa Senators Sports and Entertainment.
He says that the city had already thought about a project like this.
“We approached the city about potential locations and they suggested there was a plan in place a number of years ago to put a rink out front of city hall.”
Even though the Rideau Canal is just a few steps away, Somerset Coun. Diane Holmes says that there is still an advantage to having the Rink of Dreams open from November to March every year.
“It’s going to be very helpful that this rink will be available seven days a week, so even if it’s raining and the weather is warmer it’s still going to be available because of the structure and the icing machinery that’s underneath the rink,” she says.
Holmes says the decision to go forward with the rink wasn’t a difficult one.
“Since (the Ottawa Senators Foundation) was contributing most of the money and the city contribution was smaller, I think the decision was that this was an interesting thing to do, and a worthwhile project,” says Holmes.
The total cost of the project is $1.25 million. Proceeds from a Hockey Canada Foundation golf tournament will contribute $400,000. The city is offering up $250,000 for initial costs, plus $200,000 annually for maintenance. The rest of the funds will come from the Ottawa Senators Foundation and local partners.
While the winter activity will be skating, Luc Lavictoire, program manager for arenas and outdoor rinks for the city, says the surface will also be beneficial in the summer months.
“It’s going to be concrete so we’re going to be able to have festivals there like in the past, but instead of grass there’s going to be something that’s going to be more manageable to have special events in the summer time,” he says.
The rink isn’t large enough to allow for hockey, but it is expected to play host to NHL All-Star Game events in January and Winterlude activities in February.
Holmes says that it will also be a good place to take the whole family.
“I’m just hoping we have it open all the time for skating for families because it will be free and it’s really difficult for families to find things for their family that "don’t cost a lot",” she says.
“It’s good for little kids, too, to come and learn how to skate.”
Construction on the rink started earlier this month, but so far all of the details haven’t been ironed out. Lavictoire says change rooms haven’t been firmly written into the plans.
“We’re working on them right now but we haven’t secured them for sure so in the next few months we’ll be working on trying to get those,” he says.
Holmes says the construction crew has already run into a few delays getting all the right equipment in place to install the ice refrigeration system.
However, she says there is a target date.
“We’re a couple of weeks behind schedule, but certainly the plan is to get it done as soon as possible, and the hope is that it will be ready for the All-Star game.”