Skating by the seashore in the City of North Van? Not this winter.
On Monday council voted unanimously to reject a staff proposal to further explore the feasibility of creating a temporary seaside skating rink that would operate from December 2015 to February 2016 at Lot 5 at the Shipyards.
Building and operating the temporary rink would cost $275,000.
“I applaud staff… bringing this forward and looking at something that would be something that the community would quite like for the season but I was a little taken aback at the cost,” said Coun. Linda Buchanan. “I think that this is something that we as a council have already incorporated into our vision for the Shipyards so I would prefer to see this money spent towards the actual rink moving forward.”
According to a staff report, the rationale behind building a temporary rink was two-fold: Firstly, it would provide a chance to see if there’s an appetite for public skating at the Shipyards.
Secondly, an interim rink would enable CNV staff to gather information on ice making and other technical requirements needed for operating a skating sheet close to the Burrard Inlet.
The report noted that Whistler followed the same two-step sequence, creating a temporary rink before installing a permanent one, which enabled operational issues to be fixed and tweaks made to the final design plans for a permanent rink.
Coun. Craig Keating said he was “a little bit perturbed that at one point in the report that there is a line that suggests that we want to test out an ice rink to see if the public wants one.”
“We’ve considered an ice rink and it’s coming,” he noted. “And so that’s it… too late, done. So I think it gets down to the fundamental issue here, (which) is probably $275,000 is too much to pay on something like this. I’d rather see the money go to the final product.”
Keating said he believes an ice rink at the foot of Lonsdale is achievable from a technical standpoint. “As Coun. (Don) Bell has just suggested you can go down to outdoor rinks in California in warm weather… they play hockey into July in Phoenix, Arizona. We can do these things. This is not a technical challenge and I don’t think it’s something that we need to reinvent the wheel in terms of how we test our own waterfront to ensure that it works.”
Keating believes a permanent outdoor rink is a “fantastic idea” and noted “we live in a municipality in which 80 per cent of the people live in multi-unit buildings and they are looking for the opportunity to have great outdoor experiences and this would be a great outdoor experience.”
The city has been down this road before with naysayers second-guessing plans for the waterfront, added Keating.
“The fact of the matter is they said that about beach volleyball – tremendously successful event there. People said that about the Night Market… I remember what a struggle it was to get the Friday market through, great event. This will also be a great thing.”
The council-endorsed vision for Lot 5 development includes the installation of a permanent seasonal rink as a key piece of the public space. Conceptual proposals for the waterfront revitalization plan submitted to the city earlier this year by three different firms all include an ice rink.
The Central Waterfront Development Plan, unanimously supported by council in July 2014, notes “the central plaza will be approximately 20,000 square feet in order to accommodate a regulation (17,000 sq. ft.) hockey rink and the largest outdoor skating rink in Canada.”
The rink will be open seven days a week from November to February.
The waterfront revitalization project is expected to be completed by the end of 2017.
“I personally think it’s a good idea and think it’s one of the areas where we could lead and show a very creative and attractive amenity for our residents and for people who want to come here as tourists,” said Bell about the rink.
“I am very favourably inclined towards giving very serious consideration to having an ice rink included in our final design. I just don’t think this is the way to go about it and spend the amount of money that is involved at this point.”
