Natural Ice Rinks

Christie Pits in 1923: five rinks! (Toronto Archives).
Click on picture to enlarge.

See a map of outdoor natural ice rinks below.

All natural ice rinks are built and maintained by volunteers. According to a city-sponsored outdoor rink report, in 2000/2001, there were still 97 municipally-operated natural ice rinks in Toronto: 23 in Etobicoke, 47 in Toronto, 16 in North York, and 11 in Scarborough.

For an idea of how important natural ice rinks are in colder parts of Ontario, here's the City of Ottawa's outdoor rinks web page. 236 outdoor rinks in and around Ottawa!

How to make a natural ice rink: manual from the town of Olds (Alberta) Read more >>

Why we have compressor-cooled ice rinks:

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."

December 27 2012

Ice is starting to be made at lots of neighbourhood natural ice rinks.

Baird Park (map)	Beresford Park (map)	Blantyre Park (map)
Botany Hill Park Rink (map)	East Lynn Park (map)	Elizabeth Simcoe Park (map)
Fairmount Park (map)	Florence Gell Park (map)	Glen Stewart (map)
Grenadier Pond (map)	McCormick Park (map)	Orchard Park (map)
Pearen Park (map)	Sibelius Rink (map)	Sorauren Park (map)
Trace Manes Park (map)	Trinity Bellwoods North Rink (map)	Wychwood Barns (map)

Map of Natural Ice Rinks

Click on the markers for more information, or go to the google map

Covered ice Rinks

Burnhamthorpe Community Centre Outdoor Covered Rink, Mississauga

Media articles on natural rinks

2013

Media for Fairmount Rink

From Beach Metro Community News January 22, 2013 (Article; Snapshot)

Skates are sharpened, sticks are taped and a group of dedicated dads and moms are crossing their fingers in a collective wish that the weather holds. Mother Nature calls the shots when it comes to a favourite Canadian pastime – playing hockey on an outdoor rink – and the folks who are responsible for creating and maintaining two local rinks are already hard at work, shoveling and flooding as the weather conditions dictate.

Read more >>

Feb.6 2013: Article from Inside Toronto

Flood of volunteers needed to flood McCormick Park outdoor rinks

Parkdale Villager, by Erin Hatfield

04/Jan/2013

Sunday evening Laine Pond, his son Owen and his partner Jen Cypher braved the cold, donned their toques and gloves and headed out to their neighbourhood park to flood the natural ice rink at McCormick Park.

For the first time, the Friends of McCormick Park are working to build two large ice surfaces in the park, one for shinny and the other for pleasure skating on the east side of the park, on the baseball diamond, off Brock Avenue in Parkdale.

"We have such a huge area here that is underutilized in the winter," Cypher said. "And there are so many people around here that skate, but ice time can be hard to get in the (Mary McCormick) arena."

Cypher explained the City of Toronto has given the Friends of McCormick Park access to water and hoses for flooding. There is a team of volunteers who come out nightly to flood the surfaces, but more volunteers are needed.

Read more >>

2012

posted on February 11, 2012

The Fairmount Park ice masters take pains to make ice — and winter

By: Catherine Porter
Published: February 10, 2012 00:02:00
Source: The Star

A sign just went up at the top of Fairmount Park. It reads: “Winterfest. Feb. 11, 2 to 5. Hockey. Toboggan. Music. BBQ. Prizes.”

At the bottom of the park near Coxwell Ave. and Gerrard St. E., a group of men pace around a mud pit, penned in by wooden boards. This is the hockey rink they built back in November and have been diligently flooding since New Year’s Day with nothing to show for it.

“It’s only negative 2 degrees,” says Jeff Smylie. “Is it worth trying again?”

“It’s going up to 4 degrees tomorrow,” counters Ray Bernard. “We flooded it three times last night and had some nice ice going. Look at it now.”

“I have 10 baseball mitts,” says Keith Rudyk.

“Anyone have a croquet set?”

A couple nights to Winterfest and still no winter.

What to do?

The winter that never was has been a boon for runners and cyclists and coyotes. For the natural ice rink aficionados across the city, it’s been misery.

We go up to the local bar to drown our sorrows.

Read more >>

posted on February 13, 2012

Kids skate and slide on outdoor ice rink thanks to residents

Elizabeth Simcoe Park home to one of Scarborough's few outdoor ice rinks

By:MIKE ADLER

 
Published: Feb 3, 2012
Source: Inside Toronto

It's amazing what a little ice rink can do.

Separated by a snow fence from the rest of Elizabeth Simcoe Park in Guildwood, 10 children were on skates Monday afternoon racing, jumping, turning tight circles, sliding or just laying on the ice, which neighbourhood parents had created.

"It's a lot different from being inside on an indoor rink," said Scott Wardle, 9. "There's no stands, there's no boards. The ice is kind of bumpy but it's still very nice."

Ice pads on baseball diamonds and other patches of grass were once common in east Toronto. It seemed like every park had one, said Hilary Wollis of Friends of Elizabeth Simcoe Park.

"That was a big part of our childhood."

Now it's a novelty for children in Scarborough to skate outdoors as they once did, said Wollis, surveying the park rink's homemade benches and plastic milk crates guarding a corner with rough ice.

"We have lost something over the decades by not doing this." Read more >>

2010

posted on January 14, 2010

A glimmer of reason on skating ban

By: Peter Kuitenbrouwer
Published: January 14, 2010
Source: National Post

"In deciding the other day not to seek re-election, veteran city councillor Kyle Rae (Toronto Centre-Rosedale) blasted the can't-do attitude at City Hall -- particularly bureaucrats who are "more interested in risk management than delivery of programs."

Case in point: the city's Activities on Frozen Open Bodies of Water Policy, a dumb document produced by a risk-management culture. The policy -- which council never saw -- bans all skating on city ponds, forevermore."

Read more >>

posted on January 14, 2010

City parks chief wants skating on ponds, no matter what bureaucrats say

By: Kuitenbrouwer
Published: January 13, 2010
Source: National Post

Toronto parks department bureaucrats permanently banned all skating on city ponds without consulting any elected city officials, Councillor Paula Fletcher, the parks chief, said yesterday.

Ms. Fletcher (Toronto-Danforth) and the committee’s vice-chair, Karen Stintz (Eglinton-Lawrence), believe the ban on pond skating is wrong, and plan to bring the topic to the Parks and Environment meeting at City Hall this morning. Ms. Fletcher suggested yesterday people should continue ignoring the signs, as long as they believe the ice is safe.

Read more >>

posted on January 12, 2010

City needs to chill out

By: Peter Kuitenbrouwer
Published: Tuesday, January 12, 2010
Source: National Post

"Toronto's biggest skating rink is now (unofficially) open for your winter pleasure.

Please ignore the City of Toronto's yellow plastic signs, fastened to trees and posts around Grenadier Pond in High Park, which read, "Danger. Ice unsafe. Keep off. Municipal Code #608."

The affirmation on these signs is false, as hundreds proved this past weekend when we piled onto the city's largest pond. Some cross-country skied. Some walked dogs. A photographer from a community newspaper got on to take pictures. One young man who had a thick Russian accent brought an ice drill and bored eight holes (the ice is about 25 cm thick) and sat down on his cooler to fish."

Read more >>

Some history - Dovercourt Park - from around World War II

Source: Herbert Franklin, Street Stories of Toronto. 1996. Toronto City Archives [emphasis added].

“Dovercourt Park: The only open space that most of us saw from one year to the next was the park. The winter sports were especially enjoyable as most children from the school and the surrounding area were in the park either skating on the pleasure rink or playing on one of the two rinks that were boarded off for hockey. The pleasure skating rink was especially good for meeting friends. Boys and girls.

Read More >>