Fast progress expected on outdoor rinks
Moose Jaw residents will soon have their choice of outdoor rinks to play shinny on or take a spin around the ice, as the City of Moose Jaw expected to see 100 per cent completion on all the major outdoor rinks by Dec. 30.
According to City of Moose Jaw communications manager Craig Hemingway, this is right on target for recent years, especially given the warm weather earlier in December.
“Ideally we’d like to have all the rinks ready to go by the holidays, but with how mild the weather has been in recent years, we haven’t quite been able reach that point,” he said. “So with the cold weather this week, we should be able to get everything done, and then hopefully it’ll warm up so people can get out there and enjoy the rinks.”
As of Dec. 22, rinks at Smith Park (13th Ave. S.W. and Hastings St.) , Kinfield (100 block of Grandview St. W.), Moose Square (600 Stadacona St. W.), Ross Wells (Ross Crescent and Oxford St.), Henleaze (1100 block of Henleaze Crescent) are all at 90 per cent coverage and are open to public skating.
The only drawback to less than complete coverage is that only at 100 per cent will the city begin operating the outdoor lights at night.
The Wakamow Valley Oval is at about 60 per cent completion, with city crews resuming flooding last week and expecting to have it — and all outdoor rinks — fully flooded this week.
For more information on the 15 outdoor rinks and skating pads maintained by the Parks and Recreation Department — including supervised rinks with heated shacks — check out the city website at moosejaw.ca/ recreation/outdoor-rinksskating-pads.