THUNDER BAY — The City of Thunder Bay will open a number of boarded outdoor rinks on Christmas Eve.
Rinks typically open by the start of the Christmas school break, but mild weather and rain set back preparations for this season.
"So the warm temperatures and the rain definitely set us back a bit. So typically, we probably could have been ready a few days earlier than we are," said Cory Halvorsen, manager, parks and open spaces.
"But right now we're looking at the end of the week is what we're tentatively scheduled to have many of our rinks open for."Locations opening on Friday include:
- West Thunder
- James Street
- Tarbutt
- Wayland
- North Neebing
- West Arthur
- South Neebing
- Current River
- North End
- Brent Park
- Carrick Park
- County Park
- West End
- John Kushnier
The remaining boarded rinks will stay closed pending further flooding and maintenance by city crews.
The city says all un-boarded skating ponds are also still being prepared, pending weather conditions.
Skating is not recommended on closed rinks because the ice surface may be hazardous to users.
The city operates and maintains outdoor rinks at 39 different locations. Supervised sites have change rooms available on the days they are open/supervised, and operate from 2pm - 10 pm Monday to Friday, and 1m - 9 pm Saturday and Sunday.
During the holidays the following sites will be open and supervised from 1 pm - 9 pm on Boxing Day and New Year's Day:
- Carrick Park
- North End Community Centre
- West Thunder Community Centre
- James St. Playfield
All remaining supervised sites will be unsupervised Dec. 24-26, Dec. 31 and Jan 1.
This year, the city is also introducing a new skating trail at Vickers Park.
It is tentatively scheduled to open Dec. 24, but in a news release Wednesday the city said current weather conditions may impact flooding of the trail.
Updates are available online.
There are currently no capacity limits on the rinks, but under COVID-19 regulations there are capacity limits in change rooms and washroom facilities.
Rink users are encouraged to maintain a physical distance of two metres, excluding members of the same household.
The city said unorganized outdoor sports and games are currently permitted, but this may change if the province introduces additional restrictions.
"So we'll be watching closely and users need to sort of be mindful of that and be prepared for a change." said Halvorsen.
Organized team games are not allowed.
