Outdoor ice plant may extend city's skating season

It'sgood news for people in the city who like to get their exercise on the ice.

Gary Wood, Thunder Bays waterfront construction supervisor, said the ice plant at Prince Arthur's Landing will extend the outdoor skating season.

Wood said he's nailing down the finer points of making ice with an ice resurfacer and outdoor ice plant.

"Anywhere just above zero we can probably get started," he said.

"We're shooting to have ice from November through until ... end of March. It's a little bit of a learning curve at the moment."

Wood added the new system allows city staff to make ice around 0 Celcius, and maintain it all the way up to a temperature of around 8 Celcius.

Keeping snow off the ice

The city is also looking at a longer skating season at some other outdoor rinks, but without installing the expensive chiller and refrigeration lines in place at the waterfront site.

City parks manager Paul Fayrick said there will be "just a simple roof over ... permanent outdoor rinks so that we can keep the sun from hitting the ice and perhaps getting an extra couple of weeks of use."

Fayrick noted the department's long-term plan includes piloting the roofed-over rink at the North End Recreation Centre.

He said the covered surface comes with a bonus the ice will never get a dump of snow.