Pictou County rinks are adapting to the new reality of COVID-19.
Sport facilities struggling to stay afloat amid pandemic
Local ice rinks have implemented new rules to limit the risk of spreading the coronavirus, but some changes may threaten their shot to survive.
Ron Clarke, manager of Hector Arena in Pictou, said ice rental went up by $10 per hour to help cover increased costs and cancelled fundraisers.
"We had Woody's Slice Memorial Golf Tournament this summer. The private annual fundraiser donated $10,000 to the arena, but this year it cancelled because of the pandemic. Hector Arena is already in the hole with finances before the lights turned on two weeks ago," said Clarke.
"Moving forward, we are three weeks late opening, so I'm hoping my power bill will be half of what it was last year to make up some ground.”
The Hector Arena has four staff members working in shifts and Clarke working full-time. But with the ramping up on safety measures, Clarke says extra staff may be hired depending on the ice hockey season, which is now underway.
"Anybody that manages an ice rink has to keep in mind public safety. If a big coronavirus outbreak happened in the region and the rink temporarily shut down for two weeks, we can handle that financially. However, if we had to close for a month, it could mean turning the lights off until next fall," he said.
While there has been no public skating on the ice so far, Clarke said hockey teams started tryouts and practicing recently week. And the public is welcome to use the walking track around the rink.
"Masks are mandatory, and those using the facility add their name, date and time, along with contact details, to a sign-in sheet at the entrance. Walking is in one direction and exits at a separate door, and donations are accepted to help with operating costs and maintenance."
The arena has a limited seating capacity for those watching the hockey games, and every home team is responsible (by contract) to trace those that come through the doors, said Clarke.
"So far, our COVID signage and sanitizing is somewhere
around the $2,000 mark, and we are just getting going, so it costs us a lot."
Colin Dorrington, manager of Westville Miner's Sports Center ice skating rink, voiced the same concerns.
"We are implementing the same rules as the other ice rinks in Pictou County, and a lot of rinks. These rules include plenty of signage, hand sanitizer, reduced numbers in the arena, and mandatory masks," said Dorrington.
The indoor skating rink seats 386 in the stand, said Dorrington, but because of the pandemic, this number is now limited to 100.
"We lost a couple of major fundraisers over the summer for our organizations and a bit of cash flow for ourselves.
Now we have increased costs because of signage and hiring extra staff for cleaning," said Dorrington, while acknowledging starting costs to open the rink are higher than last year.
Westville Miner's Sports Center officially opened Nov. 2 for the hockey season.
"No one is using the rink… because we are still making ice, but we have lost a bunch of revenue already because everything was so late starting (because of the pandemic restrictions). We usually open on Oct. 1, and we are beginning a month later,” he said.
"If you technically want to get into it, we have lost between $20,000 to $25,000 in revenue with the late start because we would have been taking in $5,000 to $7,000 every week. "
Dorrington noted that the canteen and warm rooms are not open because of the increased cleaning costs and staff.
He added, "Food and drink are also not allowed on the premises."
Darryl Marcott, the Trenton Minor Sports Community Centre manager, said it is also following the same protocols as the other local community ice arenas.
"We sat down as a group (Thorburn, Pictou, Westville, and me) and went over the new reopening plans. Our arena has one-way traffic, social distancing at six feet, bubble groups of 10, masks are mandatory at all times except on the ice, extra sanitizing and cleaning," he said.
"I'm also not opening the showers or canteens to limit the spread of COVID-19."
The minor hockey season has a late start on Nov. 4 for Trenton.
"Normally, I would have opened the last week of September," said Marcott, who has two full-time staff.
"All our summer events ended, but minor hockey is late getting going. That is why most of us local rinks are opening this weekend or next week. For spectators in the stands, we typically hold 500, but are looking at 100 this season to keep social distancing requirements."
While savouring a strong arena coffee or trying out canteen poutine, handshakes, fist bumps, and locker room chants have ended, families – at least – can still watch, cheer, and commiserate the players.