Castlegar’s mayor is asking if the city’s outdoor rinks are worth the trouble of their upkeep given their limited use.
“I know the community loves it when it’s open,” Maria McFaddin said this week of the rinks at the back of Kinnaird Park.
“Just with the staffing constraints we have, I do wonder if we’re only getting a week out of this every winter, with the changing weather, is this really worth our staff’s time?”
She asked staff to provide statistics on how many days the rinks have been open each winter for the past three or four years and how much time it takes staff to open them each time.
Operations manager Samuel Shine said they do have that data and will provide it.
So far this winter, the rinks were open Dec. 20 to 28. Otherwise it has been too warm, the city said.
When they are open, they are available from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. day and are lit in the evening.