City Rinks (Toronto)
The Unofficial Website of Toronto's Outdoor Rinks
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TORONTO STAR, JANUARY 3 1958: "It is true that the parks department operates 58 natural ice rinks for skating and 23 for hockey - or will do so, if and when there is enough frost. For all the freezing weather we get here most winters, the department might as well spare the trouble and expense, and get on with the job of multiplying the number of artificial ice rinks."
(And they did!)
Click on poster to enlarge it
wood stove at DufferinContact
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City Skating Brochures
posted September 29, 2007
Note: These are brochures for 2009-2010.
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- Skating lessons brochures, 2008-2009
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You are on the [cover page] of folder [Dufferin Rink]< Dieppe Rink | Go to List of Rinks | Greenwood Rink >
See Rink Diaries for Dufferin Rink
Dufferin Rink Profile
Rink change area: Rink house converted to "clubhouse" (open to all Toronto residents, visitors welcome too). Wood stove, games, toys, lots of lockers, snack bar with 25 cent slices of bread from park outdoor bread ovens, soup, mini-pizzas, organic hot chocolate, Fair Trade organic coffee. Friday night suppers with emphasis on families. Skate loans ($2). Live music at times. Rink house unavailable for changing during weekly organic farmers' market (Thursdays 1pm-8pm), but lots of benches set up outside. Groups can book to have campfires beside the rink house (no indoor birthday permits available). Call rink at 392-0913 for more information.
Staff: Happy to hear feedback and concerns - 416-392-0913, or e-mail staff@dufferinpark.ca
Maintenance: Zamboni. Ice is cleaned four times a day: Monday - Friday at 8 a.m., 3:15 p.m., 7:00 p.m., 8:55 p.m.; Saturday at 8 a.m., 1:30p.m., 5:15 p.m., 8:45 p.m.; Sunday at 8 a.m., (1:30 p.m. if busy), 4:45 p.m., 7:30 p.m., 8:45 p.m..
Public Skating and open shinny hockey:
Free Pleasure-skating: Available a total of 84 hours a week
Every day seven days a week, from 9 am to 9 pm., Supervised . (Occasional extra ice maintenance until 10am on Mondays and Fridays.)
Note that the pleasure-skating side is left open until 11p.m. every night, and after 9p.m. there is often good pond-style shinny hockey on that side with shinny nets.
Free Shinny hockey: Available a total of 70 1/2 hours a week. Sometimes too crowded. No one-puck rule. Most shinny players on ice at one time: 42. Most pucks on ice at one time: 7. Ridiculous. This tends to get better toward February. For shinny schedule click here. Age groups enforced: 12 and under with parent or caregiver (or novice adults); 13-17 (medium pace); 18 and over (high pace). New 9 & under age group on Saturdays only, 1:45pm-3:00pm. Youth program 9:00pm-11:00pm on Saturdays - get together a group of friends and book the ice for free! Please note that all other ice time is now booked at Dufferin. For permits at other rinks in the south district contact Carol Mendes at 416-392-0361.
Open women’s shinny: Tuesdays 9:00pm – 11:00pm
To inquire about shinny permits in the South District call Nellie Raposo DeMers at 416-392-0361.
Check out the shinny and pleasure skating schedules here.
Family day (February 15) rink and building are open 9am-9pm, rink will operate regular MONDAY weekday schedules. Family day schedule.
Comments about this rink: e-mail us at rinkissues@cityrinks.ca.
Views of the rink
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A bit of Dufferin Rink history
A link to Cavan Young's NFB/CBC 2004 short film about Dufferin Rink: Citizen Z
posted September 2006
tiles found at restaurant demolition, 1996
Zamboni Cafe, 2007
From Jutta Mason: In 1992 Dufferin Grove Park's old outdoor artificial ice rink was torn down and a new one built. In 1994 a few of us began to work with the rink staff. It was an unpleasant experience for years, but eventually we were accepted and able to shape what happened there in the winter. The food was a big thing (cookies, oranges, then mini-pizzas) plus the juices, so we got two old fridges and put them in the garage to store our supplies. Gradually the 'gangsters' who hung out there evolved out of the worst of their behaviours, and began to relax a bit, joining the rest of the community. Read More >>
Rink Diary 2009 - 2010
Chris Parker and friends: making snow lanterns on the coldest night of the year, using the zamboni snow at Dufferin Rink (January 30)
snow lanterns
working at minus 19 degrees
midnight lanterns
Monday February 1, 2010
High minus 4, low minus 10
Ice maintenance: 9am s/f both, ,11:45am scrape, 3:15pm scrape, 7pm scrape, 8:55 s/f
Tuesday February 2, 2010
High minus 2, low minus 9.
Ice maintenance: 9ams/f both, 45am scrape both, 3:15pm scrape both 5:30pm scrape both (extra), 7pm scrape both, 8pm scrape both (extra), 9pm scrape both, operator stayed on site at night to be in touch with staff about extra scrapes.
Wednesday February 3, 2010
High minus 3, low minus 8. light flurries till afternoon
Ice maintenance: Pre 9.30 am scrape, 11:45 scrape, 3pm scrape, 7 pm scrape, 8.55 scrape
Thursday February 4, 2010
High 0, low minus 10.
Ice maintenance: Pre 9am scrape and flood, 11.45 scrape, 3pm scrape, 7 pm scrape, 8.55 scrape and flood
Friday February 5, 2010
High 0, low minus 7.
Ice maintenance: am scrape, 11:45 scrape, 3:15 scrape, 6.40 scrape and flood of hockey side and scrape only of pleasure side, 8:55 scrape and flood
Saturday February 6, 2010
High minus 6, low minus 12.
Ice maintenance: 8am scrape, 9:30am s/f both sides, 11:45am s/f hockey side, scrape pleasure side, 2:45pm s/f hockey side, scrape pleasure side, 5:30pm s/f hockey side, scrape pleasure side, 8:55pm s/f hockey side, scrape pleasure side. Operator was great all day, 100% thinking about how to give good ice to tournament and accommodating to changes in the schedule
Sunday February 7, 2010
High minus 2, low minus 12.
Ice maintenance: 9am scrape, 5pm scrape, 8pm scrape and flood Pretty busy between 1-3pm but quieter around 4pm.
Monday February 8, 2010
High minus 1, low minus 11.
Ice maintenance: 9am scrape, 11:45 scrape, 3:15 scrape, 7:15 scrape, 8:55 scrape and flood
Numbers samples 11:15am: 2 shinny players, 17 pleasure-skaters.
4:50pm: 11 shinny players 16 pleasure-skaters (5 with helmets), 14 inside.
6:15: 14 shinny players (7 with helmets), 9 pleasure-skaters (4 with helmets), 3 inside.
8pm: 22 shinny players, 3 adult, 5 pleasure-skaters (1 with helmet), 7 inside, permit 15 players.
Tuesday February 9, 2010
High minus 4, low minus 9. Light snow.
Ice maintenance: pre9am scrape and flood, 11:45am scrape, 3:15pm scrape, 7pm s/f hockey side, scrape pleasure side, 9pm scrape both (snowing)
Numbers sample 6:50pm: 8 shinny players (no helmets), 12 pleasure-skaters (3 with helmets), 13 inside
Wednesday February 10, 2010
High minus 3, low minus 7. Light snow.
Ice maintenance: pre 9am scrape, 10 am scrape, 3pm scrape, 7pm scrape 9pm scrape and flood both sides
Thursday February 11, 2010
slush by the boards -- the sun is getting stronger
High minus 2, low minus 9. Sunny.
Ice maintenance: 9am s/f both sides, 11:45 scrape both sides, 3:15pm scrape both sides, 7pm scrape both sides, 8:55pm s/f both sides
Friday February 12, 2010
High minus 1, low minus 12.
Ice maintenance: pre9am scrape both sides, 11:30am blade maintenance, 12:15pm scrape both sides, 3pm parks and rec staff agreed that 3:15pm would be a scrape only and stay away from the boards, 3:15pm scrape, as decided 7pm flooded just north side (one strip on each pad where it was really chopped up and slushy), scraped the rest, 9pm s/f both sides
Saturday February 13, 2010
High minus 2, low minus 9.
Ice maintenance: pre 9am s/f, 11:45 scrape, 5:15 scrape both sides and flood north end boards and hockey net area, 7pm extra maint. scrape and flood hockey pad only for bike race, 9pm scrape only of both sides because its snowing
Sunday February 14, 2010
High minus 1, low minus 4. Cloudy
Ice maintenance: pre 9am s/f, 5.15 scrape both sides, 8pm s/f both sides
Monday February 15, 2010
High minus 2, low minus 4. Cloudy
Ice maintenance: 9am s/f both sides, 11:45am scrape both sides, 3:15pm scrape both sides, 5pm scrape both sides, 7pm s/f both sides - operator said that he stays later because Dufferin has its own operator
Numbers samples, 4pm 23 hockey players (no helmets), 60 pleasure-skaters (3 with helmets), 38 inside
7:30pm 14 hockey players (2 with helmets), 52 pleasure-skaters (6 with helmets), 28 inside
Tuesday February 16, 2010
High 0, low minus 4. Snow Showers
Ice maintenance: 9am - scrape, 11:45am - scrape, 3:15pm scrape both, 7pm scrape both, 9pm s/f both
Wednesday February 17, 2010
High 0, low minus 3. Snow Showers
Ice maintenance: pre 9 am maintenance, 9-10am snow fall. 10 am ice is snow covered, 10:30 zamboni arrives, scrapes pleasure pad first then hockey pad, 2pm snow fall, orange balls given out on hockey side, ice is snow covered, 3.15 zamboni arrives, scrapes done. Snow fall stops, 7pm scrape, 8:55 scrape and flood.
Thursday February 18, 2010
High 1, low minus 2. Cloudy.
Ice maintenance: pre 9am s/f both sides, 11:45am scrape both sides, 3:15pm scrape both sides, 7pm scrape both sides, 8:55pm s/f both sides
Friday February 19, 2010
High 3, low minus 2. Cloudy.
Ice maintenance: pre 9am s/f both sides, 11:45am scrape both sides, 3:15pm scrape both sides, 7pm scrape both sides, - partial flood on hockey side to fix choppy bits from when it was slushy, 8:55pm s/f both sides
Saturday February 20, 2010
High 4, low minus 5. Clear.
Ice maintenance: pre 9am, 11:45am scrape both sides, 2:45pm scrape both sides, 5:15pm scrape both sides, 8:55pm s/f both sides.
Sunday February 21, 2010
High 5, low minus 6. Sunny.
Ice maintenance: pre 9am scrape and flood both sides. At 2pm the gates came down to close the hockey side. By 3pm, half of the pleasure pad was sectioned off for bad ice. There4 was a police-sponsored event that brought out many extra skaters, so it was not possible to close the whole rink, but it was a bit worrying -- the ice was so slushy because of the sun.
Tuesday February 23, 2010
High 0, low minus 2. Snowing.
Ice maintenance: pre9am s/f - thorough scrape, then separate flood 11:45am scrape both, 3:15pm scrape both, 6:30pm snowing, 7:00 scrape both 8:00 extra scrape.
Wednesday February 24, 2010
High 0, low minus 5. Snow showers.
Ice maintenance: 11.45am, 3.15pm, 7pm, 8.55pm scrape
Thursday February 25, 2010
High minus 3, low minus 7. Snowing.
Ice maintenance: Pre 9am scrape, 11:45 scrape, 3:15 scrape, extra maintenance: 5pm extra maintenance, 7pm scrape, requested extra 8pm maintenance but no need. 9pm scrape. 10.45 more snow accumulation.
Friday February 26, 2010
High 0, low minus 6. Snowing.
Ice maintenance: 3pm scrape - 4:00pm done, 7pm scrape both side, 9pm scrape / flood hockey side, machine needed refilling, so the pleasure-skating side was not done.
Sunday February 28, 2010
High 3, low 0. Snow showers.
Ice maintenance: Pre 9am scrape and flood. 12:30: hockey side was closed down. 5pm, no maintenance as ice was too soft. The hockey side was very wet and thin, but the ice under the water was holding, not soft or cracking. 5pm and 6:30pm towel scrape on pleasure-skating side and towel flood on hockey side, permits canceled, 7pm heavy flood of hockey pad, 7:30pm normal flood of pleasure-skating pad.
Monday March 1 to Friday March 5:
Sunny and highs between 1 and 3 all week. During that whole week, there were perhaps 6 hours of skateable (morning) ice. All the rest was mush or gouges, because of the sun. On the few days when some clouds came back, the ice lasted a bit longer, but then the sun came back and it was no use. Finally on Friday the rink season was over.
To see the (2007-2008) report card, click here
Content last modified on February 15, 2010, at 12:06 AM EST