City Rinks Master Journal for the 2010-2011 Season

This is where we enter new information, and then distribute it to relevant parts of the website.

City of Toronto Rink Information Monitor (2010-2011)

Monitoring the City of Toronto Rink Information - the rink pages on the City website, and the City of Toronto information line "311."

E-mail to 311, cc to Recreation supervisor Wendy Jang and Parks managers Kevin Bowser and James Dann, September 17 2010

Hi there -- the new outdoor rinks information pages has several things that will need correction --

1. it lists Pelmo Park, Driftwood CC and Firgrove Park as having outdoor rinks -- assuming that this list is referring only to compressor-cooled outdoor rinks (A.I.R.s), are you sure those rinks exist?

2. Jimmie Simpson, Glen Long, and Regent South and North are listed double (i.e the nearby rec centes are also listed), and Earlscourt Park is where Giovanni Caboto Rink is located, so that's a double also

3. Robert Street rink has been out of service for maybe ten years or longer

4. Only 30 of the city's 50 outdoor rinks are listed there -- you might want to compare with this list: http://cityrinks.ca/wiki/wiki.php?n=ListOfRinks.FrontPage

5. Don't forget the brand new rink at Colonel Sam Smith Park in Etobicoke.

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From Corinne at 311, September 20,2010

I have forwarded your e-mail to staff in our Web Services who have a list of staff who work in the various City website. Thank you for including the web pages.

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E-mail to 311, cc to Recreation supervisor Wendy Jang and Parks managers Kevin Bowser and James Dann, September 19 2010

Hello again -- this is a follow-up to my message from Friday -- I note that there are several problems with the city's rink map as well: //www.toronto.ca/parks/pdf/rinks/rinks-map.pdf

1. Fountainhead Rink in NY has not been in operation for some years

2. Pleasantview Rink (also NY) is missing from the map, but it exists http://cityrinks.ca/wiki/wiki.php?n=PleasantviewRink.FrontPage

3. Note also that Eglinton Park and North Toronto Memorial are the same rink, with the same map number on this city map, but listed separately.

Please let me know when these various errors are fixed, so we can link the City information with ours -- thanks

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From Natali at 311, September 22 2010

Your email has been forwarded to the City of Toronto Web Center for investigation and response.

Update, October 1 2010

The city's rinks map has been fixed, but the list has the same problems as before -- no fix yet.

Update Nov.26 2010

The list has been complete and correct for about four weeks. The details are changing daily, so for example Hodgson Rink, which was listed for Nov.27 opening, was changed yesterday to Dec.4 opening.

Rink opening information Nov.27 2010

311 respondent said almost all city rinks are open. When he was told that's not possible, he looked at the city's rink list and said that it lists itself as updated today. The list says that ten of them are "operational."

November 28: Errors in 311 information?

The city's web link may be wrong about a few rinks, e.g. Glen Long. It was being flooded on Friday at 5 pm but a rink user came to Dufferin Rink this morning and said Glen Long was not open. On the phone, the Glen Long staff said it's too warm (temperature: 1 C). The 311 person at 5.15 pm today said that Glen Long Rink is not opening until Dec.4 -- it turns out she was reading their leisure skating schedule, which contradicts the city's "outdoor rinks" web list. When I asked about the discrepancy, the 311 person said I ought to look at the asterisk beside "opening date." I did. It says "Seasonal open and close dates are weather permitting." She sounded as though she might think I was a bit dense, even though I told her that many other rinks are open.

December 6th. First Snowfall of the rink season.

The city's website maintained that 6 rinks were snow covered as of 12 noon. When we called 311 at 6pm, they said that everything was snow covered. At the same time, the city's website updated the status to operational for all the 6 rinks.

December 13 2010

At 12 noon, the city's website (pdf page) says the rinks are operational but wet, i.e. this is still the announcment from yesterday 10.30 a.m. Actually some of the rinks must be snow-covered -- and the temperature is -13 -- no rinks are wet. We checked with 311, whose operator called the supervisor and then said that "wet" means "covered." But it doesn't.

December 14 2010

Was listed as open (Dec.4), then (Dec.12) listed as closed, then (Dec.14) listed as open again: Ryerson Rink.

December 26 2010, e-mail to 311 (also a phone call)

-- the paper schedule posted at Glen Long A.I.R. (photo attached) does not match the City's holiday schedule posted on the web, and therefore it doesn't match the 311 info either. This morning the rink surface was unlocked but there was no evidence of ice maintenance nor of staff, and the change rooms were locked. http://cityrinks.ca/wiki/wiki.php?n=GlenLongRink.RinkDiary2010-2011

Does that mean that your information for the other North Toronto rinks was also wrong?

March 4, 2011

>>> "mail@cityrinks.ca" <mail@cityrinks.ca> 3/4/2011 11:22 PM >>> Hi there -- I checked the rink information on the city's website again just now, and I see that Dufferin Rink was listed as "operational" all day: http://www.toronto.ca/parks/skating/outdoor-rinks.htm.

But in fact it was closed to the public all day because a TV show is being filmed there -- and they won't be done until 2 a.m. I heard that the Rec supervisor and the rink program staff contacted 311 to get the information changed, but it never was. There were some unhappy rink users who said they had checked the city website and not been warned.

How can correct information be transmitted in future?

March 6 2011

Thank you for contacting 311 Toronto. Thank you for bringing this matter to our attention. Normally once information is given to 311 it is quickly circulated among the staff. We will endeavor to do our best to keep updated information accessible.

Hope this is helpful. Please do not hesitate to let us know if you have any further questions.

Sincerely,

Tamara 311 Toronto

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