THUNDER BAY — It's unclear why, but there's been a steady decline in usage at many of the city's 39 outdoor rink sites.
As a result, a dozen locations are now under review for possible closure or downgrading.
The city is giving residents living near 11 sites that are on the watchlist two seasons to show why they should remain open or not be downgraded.
Residents near a twelfth rink have just the current season to increase their usage.
At all locations between Feb. 1 and Feb. 21 (including Family Day weekend) a third-party contractor will collect data for the city by counting the number of people at the rinks.
Notices about the exercise are being sent to residents of each affected location.
"It lets them know that the rink in their neighbourhood is not meeting target user rates...Should the user rate not improve during these two seasons, a recommendation to downgrade or discontinue would be a potential," said Cory Halvorsen, the city's manager of parks and open spaces. "At the end of the day, that recommendation goes to council."
Last fall, when two rinks were recommended for closure based on poor usage, city council approved the shutdown of an unboarded, unsupervised pond at the Vale Community Centre but gave a last-minute reprieve to a pond on Confederation Drive.
Residents there have one more season to increase their usage of that site.
The locations under review the next two seasons include:
Unboarded/unsupervised, and recommended to be closed– Woodside Parkette, Anten Parkette, Picton Parkette, Franklin Park, Holt Parkette
Boarded/unsupervised, and recommended to be downgraded to unboarded – John Kusznier Park, Third & High Park, Wilson Park
Boarded/Supervised, and recommended to be downgraded to unsupervised – Waddington Park, Oliver Road Park, Frank Charry Park
The counts to be done next month will be completed on seven separate days chosen at random.
Weekday counts will happen from 3 p.m. to 9 p.m., while weekend counts will take place between 1 p.m. and 7 p.m.
The contractor will count skaters, people in change rooms and spectators.
No counts will be done when the temperature is below -15 C, when rinks are snow-covered or while they are being flooded.
Halvorsen said the city believes it makes more sense to focus its resources on maintaining rinks that are well-used.
He said he's unsure why the usage at so many sites is trending downward, but speculates that youths have the option of pursuing more activities than they used to, including on their electronic devices.
Interestingly, during the COVID-19 pandemic, there was a noticeable uptick in usage at numerous rinks when they were permitted to be open, as people sought opportunities to escape the confines of their homes.
Halvorsen noted that the city isn't only focused on downsizing, as it's recently created two new skating sites, one at Vickers Park where there's a well-used skating loop, and the other at Dease Park where an unsupervised boarded rink has been established.
