By Krysta Krupica
If local outdoor rinks are in worse shape than usual this year, blame the weather not the city.
“I know for a fact there has been no discussion about reduction in grants for 1999 in the budget,” said Linda Pajot, who formerly worked for Parks and Recreation and is now facility manager for Jack Purcell Community Centre.
“I doubt that the council would consider (cutting rink grants),” says Pajot. “They’re the ones telling us not to.”
Since the rinks’ scheduled opening date, wild winter weather has dumped on, pelted and even melted Centretown’s outdoor rinks. Skaters have complained about everything from late opening dates to bumpy, unsafe ice.
“The ice is pathetic,” says Matthew Moreau, 14. Moreau and his friends play hockey at McNabb rink three nights a week.
Paul Fortin, who skates at McNabb regularly, says that since the rink opened, there hasn’t been a day that the ice has been satisfactory or safe.
“Weather is obviously a problem but it doesn’t explain the whole thing,” says Fortin.
He says he’s been at McNabb on sunny days when employees or volunteers could have been out cleaning up the rink, but weren’t.
Both Pajot and Linda Connolly, vice-president of the McNabb Recreation Organization, blame the weather for poor ice conditions.
Rink operators were supposed to start making a base ice on Dec. 27 to have the rinks operational by Jan. 2. Initially there was no snow to make the base, then a snowstorm dumped 40 centimetres on Ottawa.
“It’s not always automatic that if you start early then you’re going to be ready on time,” says Pajot.
Still, more than 70 per cent of the rinks managed to be ready by the scheduled date.
Ice conditions vary from rink to rink. Of the approximately 70 outdoor rinks in Ottawa, some are in great shape while others need work, says Mark Magee, supervisor of outdoor rinks and wading pools for the city.
Each rink receives a grant from the city to cover its operating expenses. The size of the grant depends on the rink.
The outdoor rink at McNabb gets approximately $4,000 annually. The grant pays for shovels, snowblowers and trucks for snow removal. Each year, Connolly hires young people from the community to maintain the rink, although she still depends on volunteers.
The weather has kept rink workers and volunteers busy.
Connolly says while the grants haven’t been cut, some rinks are opening up fewer hours this year to keep within their budgets.
Connolly says the rinks are important for the community.
“It brings families together at the public skating, everybody gets to see each other and talk to each other.”