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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!)
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You are on the [cover page] of folder [Monday Outdoor Rink Reports]Monday Outdoor Rink Reports
Monday Rink Report Correspondence
Monday Outdoor Rink Report #16 March 8, 2010
This was to be a longer report, to compare letters I received from management with what actually happened in the rink season. However, several freedom of information responses have not yet been received, so I'll wait until they come. In the meantime, a short report:
1. The weather in the first week of March was only a few degrees above zero in the daytime, always below zero at night, but consistently sunny, with the strong March sun. So the outdoor rinks did not do well, for the most part. Dufferin and Wallace had very limited hours of good ice (2-3 a day) in the last week and could have been closed with no complaints. Most rinks in the west andf North reported that they didn't even stay open until March 5. Rennie Rink, with an extra 60 Hp and its location in a bowl, did much better, as did Ramsden pleasure-skating pad and City Hall, both with the benefit of a tall building to provide shade from the SW. However City Hall had a problem in the pipes and Ramsden had a compressor problem, so they were not in very good shape either. More specific weather comparisons will be presented in my final report.
2. In the same pattern as the eleventh-hour communication protocol between zamboni drivers and on-site staff, an outdoor rink survey went out from the skate committee on the Friday before all the rinks were closed.
3. The communication from the College Park rink user, about the never-solved midnight hockey noise, shows that there is too little follow-up, and too little communication especially between Corporate Security and PFR. It was gratifying to see that the problem was finally taken seriously, with a letter of acknowledgment from the Parks director. Hopefully the various remedies will be carried over into next season.
4. The question about the mats at the Ward 18 rinks -- removal with the help of 416 staff, and storage on site in the compressors rooms so that last season's problem of lost mats doesn't repeat -- was not addressed so far. I will try to follow up with a phone call if it seems that no action is forthcoming.
5. Wallace Rink showed some puzzling ice problems at the end of the rink season, and it would be helpful to speak directly to the tech services staff to find out their thoughts. Again, I'll follow up with a phone call to see if that's possible.
Jutta Mason
Earlier Reports:
Content last modified on March 09, 2010, at 12:12 AM EST