Hastings Rink Committee all Community Volunteers
“It’s a great addition to the community, especially in times where we can’t do everything that we want to do.” Deputy Mayor Mike Metcalf.
Municipality Providing Picnic Tables, Light Fixture, Water Outlet
Article by John Campbell/Image Hastings Outdoor Rink Facebook page
Hastings - Dec. 21, 2021 - Oh, the weather outside is delightful – let it freeze, let it freeze, let it freeze.
And when the water does at the Hastings Outdoor Ice Rink, it will be ready for use for the second winter in a row. But this time it will be even better.
The Municipality of Trent Hills arranged for a contractor to grade the area to allow for a more uniform ice surface at the request of the volunteer group that maintains the rink.
The parks and recreation department is also planning on installing a light fixture “to provide some illumination onto the ice surface … (to) greatly increase the quality of the experience of those using the ice rink,” Community Recreation Officer Peter Burnett wrote in a staff report to council for its Dec. 14 meeting.
The temporary facility was a hit its first season.
As soon as the water freezes the rink will be opened. Images Hastings Outdoor Rink Facebook page
“The ice rink was received well by Trent Hills residents and visitors throughout the winter months and provided a venue for valuable outdoor recreation opportunities during the first winter of Covid-19 restrictions,” Burnett said.
The municipality will be supplying picnic tables as well for rink users.
It installed a yard hydrant in the fall of 2020 to provide a seasonal water supply to the site on the north-west corner of Bridge Street North and Front Street West, after Hastings resident Dennis Forbes had asked that it be provided, saying “a lack of accessible water” was an “insurmountable stumbling block” to an outdoor rink being built.
At its meeting this month, council agreed to enter into an agreement with the Hastings Ice Rink Committee for the operation of the outdoor rink and yard hydrant for another winter.
“It’s a great addition to the community, especially in times where we can’t do everything that we want to do,” Deputy Mayor Mike Metcalf said.
“This is a really good group of volunteers” and they and municipal staff are “working well” together on a project that provides “mutual benefits” for the committee and the municipality, he said.
“We’re going to hope for some nice weather … you know, about minus-10 all winter long just to keep it perfect,” he quipped. “(That) would be great.”
The Hastings Outdoor Ice Rink Committee issued a “friendly reminder” to Trent Hills residents Dec. 20 to stay off the ice until the water hardens.
“You will be the first to know once it is skateable,’ the committee wrote on Facebook at https://business.facebook.com/HastingsOutdoorRink.
