City hopes to open some outdoor rinks by weekend

The temperatures may be cold in Thunder Bay, but the sub-zero weather is perfect for city parks staff to build outdoor rinks.

Staff have been working for the past week to try and get the two-dozen boarded rinks ready for the skating season.

"We have the tankers out flooding and we've put our parks people out on shift," said Gordon John, the city's acting parks manager."So, we've got them flooding from eight in the morning until nine at night."

John said the goal is to have four rinks open by Saturday. They include North End, East End, West Thunder and the James St. Playfield.

"Some take a little more leveling out, some take a lot more water because it's not exactly a level surface."

John said rinks in the rural areas will require more time, as some require water to be trucked to the rink site.