Opening of Outdoor Rinks Delayed

With warmer than average temperatures throughout this winter season, Swift Current's outdoor rinks are having a hard time freezing over.

A good base of ice is needed to establish and maintain the outdoor rink ice, and City Parks Superintendent, Travis Bullied, says this is a unique challenge they are facing.

"The primary concern with the city rinks are to have a safe ice surface that is skatable, and that isn't the case right now, so unfortunately due to that, we're going to remain closed over Christmas, Boxing Day, and into the weekend," he said. "We're going to be looking at some colder temperatures into the beginning of next week, so we're going to get our city staff working feverishly to see if we can get those rinks open between Christmas and New Year's."

Along with the rink, a smaller patch of ice is put in place, and Bullied adds if you are skating at the outdoor rinks, be careful, as it may not be the most safe surface to be skating on.

"We do have a smaller pad of ice at each facility that we have, and in Riverdene's case we have been able to get that smaller pad up and running, and that won't be blocked off," he added. "But with our large rinks, we are down to asphalt in a lot of places and sometimes, especially when we get snow cover, that those areas are not visible where the ice is down to the asphalt, so be very very cautious if you're going on to those big pads."

The City's social media accounts will be updated regarding the rinks, and a public skate schedule will be put in place once temperatures drop.