Man gives back to community with big ice rink
When Alan Batters first created an outdoor rink in his community last year, he had no idea it would serve as a trial run for an extravagant outdoor rink that is helping keep spirits up through a pandemic holiday season.
“I think it was almost gearing up for this year,” the Kipling resident said. “It's going to be that much more special this year.”
Last year, Batters was approached by a community group putting on a winter carnival. They were looking for someone to put together an outdoor rink and somewhere to put it. Batters, owner of Gee Bee Construction in Kipling, had both a piece of property in town that would do the trick and the know-how to put the rink together.
The community response to the rink was overwhelmingly positive. Batters knew it was something he wanted to create again this year, especially with the pandemic stifling some of Kipling's typical festive spirit.
Together with his employees and local ice maker Bobby Byrnell, Batters spent three weeks creating the rink, which he estimates is 180 feet (55 m) long by 100 feet (30 m) wide.
He also installed overhead lights so people can skate after dark and hung Christmas lights in all the surrounding trees. Several fire pits dot the snow around the rink with plenty of space between them to allow for physical distancing.
“I think this is going to just brighten some people's Christmases and (provide) a little bit of an outlet for things to do and get kids out of the house,” Batters said. “It couldn't come at a better time.”
It has a bit of sentimental value to me, that property, and so there's nothing better than to have a bit of a silver lining.
The rink officially opened to the community on Friday evening, and Batters said watching kids skate on it means more to him than the value of some physical activity.
Batters purchased the land the rink sits on after the community's former hospital at the site was torn down. It was the hospital where his son Benjamin was born in 2002, and the hospital where his son died of brain cancer just 11 years later on Christmas Day in 2013.
“It has a bit of sentimental value to me, that property, and so there's nothing better than to have a bit of a silver lining. At least there's kids enjoying themselves on that property,” Batters said. “It's hard to explain it, but it just feels good ... to pass his legacy on a little bit.”
Batters also purchased a Zamboni to flood the rink this year, and with Benjamin's picture pasted on it, Batters is reminded of his son every time the ice is prepared for other kids in the community to enjoy.
“He was a hockey player, so it's kind of in memory of Benjamin. Every time the Zamboni's on the ice, he's on the ice, so it's kind of a nice little tribute to him too,” he said.
Batters said he checked to make sure the outdoor rink is in line with all of the province's health guidelines and he has posted signs around the rink reminding people to maintain physical distancing.
He would like to see the outdoor rink become an annual tradition in the community and is already planning ways he can create a bigger and better rink next year.