Rink closed

The ice pad at Marina Park is off limits, at least until the weekend.

Warmer-than-usual temperatures in Thunder Bay forced city officials to close the year-old rink after a couple of days of skating, citing safety concerns.

“Last week it was cool enough that we were able to start the ice-making process,” said Kathy Ball, Thunder Bay’s operations co-ordinator for Marina Park.

“We had about two days of skating, but we’ve decided to close down the rink for the remainder of this week, just because the temperatures have been so unseasonably warm.”

She doesn’t want to see anyone get injured.

“Besides it being mushy, not having much ice to skate on, the corners are really melted. It’s just dangerous for people to come out. They’ll step on the ice and potentially could go through and hurt themselves,” Ball said on Monday.

“We want to protect our investment.”

Ball said city staff at the Baggage building will be enforcing the closure from noon until 9 p.m. each day and keeping would-be skaters off the ice. She added it’s likely the ban could be lifted as early as Saturday, as temperatures drop.

“If things change, we will let the media know and we’ll re-evaluate it at the end of the week,” she said