There will be three new outdoor rinks for residents to lace up and enjoy some winter recreation this year.
The new rinks were announced during the Nov. 20 council meeting.
The new rinks are located at St. Gabriel Archangel School, on the utility right of way at Rainbow Falls Grove and Seagreen Link, and in Kinniburgh at Sandpiper Point and Sandpiper Crescent.
The city-maintained rinks on the lake at Anniversary Park and Sunset Park as well as the boarded rink at the recreation centre will all be opened this winter as usual.
The three new rinks come after a controversy over whether residents could use storm ponds for recreation, such as skating.
Chestermere city council voted to uphold the prohibition on the recreational use of storm ponds at the Feb. 20, 2018 council meeting.
Storm ponds in the city continue to be off-limits for recreation.
City administration was then asked to by council to review and report on the feasibility of increasing the number of safe outdoor rinks for the community to use.
After reviewing several potential sites in Chestermere, the city’s parks department settled on the chosen sites for the new ice rinks.
Along with the new locations, the city is rolling out several new initiatives for outdoor rinks.
Community Recreation Coordinator Katelyn Richards said that they will be using liners on all of the on-land rinks this year to, “improve their efficiency by conserving water during warmer periods.”
The city will also be using water metres on the fire hydrants used to flood the rinks.
This is being done so that the city can monitor the cost and volume of water used to maintain the outdoor rinks.
Finally, the new rinks are being used as the locations for a new Adopt-A-Rink pilot program.
“The Adopt-A-Rink program was created to foster public engagement and increase accessibility to outdoor rinks for Chestermere residents,” said Richards in her presentation to council.
The program will see local volunteers trained to maintain the outdoor rinks in their community.
The maintenance duties for volunteers will include, clearing the rinks, managing sandwich boards, reporting issues and hazards to Parks staff.
For its part, the city will provide all needed equipment and safety training for the volunteers.
The Alta-Link Rink has been adopted by a member of the community while the other two rinks are still available to be adopted by individuals or service groups.
For more information on the city rinks go to www.chestermere.ca/619/Outdoor-Rink.
