THUNDER BAY — Thunder Bay’s city council has voted to spare the outdoor skating rink in John Kusznier Park from the chopping block, after hearing a case it serves lower-income families in a neighbourhood otherwise light on recreational opportunities.
The move marked a slight adjustment to council’s recent decision to close a quarter of the city’s outdoor rinks.
While councillors have broadly agreed the city should close down some outdoor rinks in response to low usage, they have struggled to agree on exactly where to draw the line.
Coun. Andrew Foulds, whose Current River Ward contains Kusznier Park and who was not present for a previous discussion in September, asked council to reconsider cutting the boarded, unsupervised rink.
On Monday, he argued eliminating the rink would take badly-needed opportunities away from an underprivileged neighbourhood.
The park — named in honour of a local police officer killed in the line of duty — sits on Fitzgerald Street just north of Cumberland, in a neighbourhood Foulds said is home to lower-income families, but boasts less access to recreation opportunities than elsewhere in the ward.
“This is just down from Court Street,” he said. “Once you move down from Court Street, you have a real change in the housing mix, and you certainly have a change in the families. And I mean this with respect, there is a change in the affluence of that area.”
“This particular area, that [I believe] from a recreational point of view is underserved — this is the one recreational asset that kids and families can use free of charge in the winter.”
Council voted 7-5 to remove the site from the list of cuts.
As Coun. Kasey Etreni noted, however, that may only win the rink a temporary reprieve, since it’s one of 11 that were already in line to be closed or downgraded after failing to hit municipal usage targets.
The rink had a five-year average usage rate of just 1.56 people per hour, according to city counts, well short of its target rate of three users per hour.
If the rink continues to fall short of that target this year, it will be downgraded to an unboarded site after this season, according to city policy.
The rink would then need to maintain a target user rate of one person per hour to remain in service.
Foulds’ argument to make an exception for Kusznier Park, pointing to income and equity, succeeded where his colleague Coun. Greg Johnsen’s call to preserve the Confederation Drive pond in Neebing had failed.
Etreni had first proposed closing 13 of the city's 39 rinks, calling that a compromise after council originally considered closing 31 locations in a bid to cut spending.
Even the smaller cut of nine rinks was not unanimously supported, passing on a 7-4 vote, with some councillors warning it represented a slow erosion of recreation services and would disproportionately hurt low-income residents.
The approved cuts are expected to bring minimal savings, since they largely target unboarded and unsupervised ponds that require little investment or staff time.
It’s one example of how a council-directed cost-cutting process initiated in February has axed numerous services, but so far failed to deliver targeted savings.
Following council’s vote Monday, the eight remaining rinks to be closed include those at Woodside Parkette, Anton Parkette, Picton Parkette, Third & High, Wilson Park, Franklin Park, Confederation Drive, and Holt Parkette.
Supervised boarded rinks at Waddington Park, Charry Park, and Oliver Road Park will also be downgraded to unsupervised rinks
