THUNDER BAY — After tracking the utilization of boarded rinks across Thunder Bay, the city will replace two of them this season with new facilities designed for recreational skating only.
"Skating loops" or ovals will be installed at Brent Park on Balsam Street and at Waddington Park on Grenville Avenue, leaving each site with one boarded rink instead of the two they formerly had.
Cory Halvorsen, manager of Parks and Open Spaces for the city, says spot checks found that the number of users per hour was trending well below the city's threshold at both locations, with usage at Current River dropping to as low as only two or three skaters last year.
Halvorsen said those numbers "weren't close to what our design standard is. It's 10 users per boarded rink (per hour) per site, so we saw that those sites essentially have been over-serviced a bit."
In an interview with Tbnewswatch, he described skating loops are "a new ice feature" for Thunder Bay, offering an alternative to the city's existing 34 boarded rinks and 22 pond rinks.
"The idea is to create an ice pathway in the shape of a loop so you can essentially go around in a circle, and it will obviously be for skating as opposed to a pond where you can try to play some hockey as well," Halvorsen said.
Site preparation for the oval at Brent Park has already been done, but the Waddington Park location will require more work.
Halvorsen said the city intends to monitor traffic on the new facilities through the coming season, and hopes they will generate new interest in "a different type of experience."
In addition to the oval, skaters at the Current River location will continue to have access this season to an unboarded pond as well as one boarded rink.
