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Freezing over
I was alerted, over the weekend, to an email that had been sent out from the city's Recreation Department to user groups (hockey, Skidmore, the Saratoga Winter Club, figure skating), calling for a meeting, to address possible changes to the city's ice skating schedule, and the ice's availability.
I spent the better part of the morning looking into it, to no avail, then succeeded in getting Linda Terricola on the phone, who told me that there had been a contemplation of some unspecified changes, after looking at cost/benefits of the rinks -- but that the meeting had since been canceled.
So, it seems that for the time being, whatever plans are in place for the rinks in the immediate future are secure.
BUT, in the process of reporting on the story, I learned that there is an outdoor speed skating oval at the rink, which hasn't been used in years. One of the concerns over at the ice rinks (which will reopen in early July), is that users groups get too much ice time, while the public is left to carry their skates around. Maybe flooding that oval will help a little?
I spent the better part of the morning looking into it, to no avail, then succeeded in getting Linda Terricola on the phone, who told me that there had been a contemplation of some unspecified changes, after looking at cost/benefits of the rinks -- but that the meeting had since been canceled.
So, it seems that for the time being, whatever plans are in place for the rinks in the immediate future are secure.
BUT, in the process of reporting on the story, I learned that there is an outdoor speed skating oval at the rink, which hasn't been used in years. One of the concerns over at the ice rinks (which will reopen in early July), is that users groups get too much ice time, while the public is left to carry their skates around. Maybe flooding that oval will help a little?
posted by The Saratogian City Desk at
4:43 PM
4 Comments:
Andrew
Any idea how much it costs to flood and maintain the outdoor oval so it can be used? DPW and monitor expenses alone make it to expensive to use. There has never been a demonstrated need for hours and hours of public skating, with the exception of a few loud mouths, the demand is simply not there.
Merlin -- I'm not posting your comment because we are now being extra-cautious about anything that is possibly libelous. Please feel free to re-post without the personal attacks.
2:37: I don't know about the costs, but I did speak with a member of the Saratoga Winter Club, who said that maintaining the oval can be difficult because it is outside, where the temperature can sometimes go above freezing, even in winter.
"There has never been a demonstrated need for hours and hours of public skating, with the exception of a few loud mouths, the demand is simply not there."
I've never read a greater load of shit. I pay $20 a session to skate with one private group of hockey players in Troy, and $16 with another in Schenectady. There's a league in Clifton Park that charges each player $200 a pop. I know people from Saratoga at both of these skates, so there is both a market and money to be made out there, especially considering the rink is powered by the dump. But it takes someone who will actually work with groups a do scheduling. Without that, the rink stays empty.
I'm glad to here Linda Terricola is finally opening up to these groups. And it would be nice if she warmed to Ralph Mosher, who was going to bring a world-class proshop to the rink. I find in unconscionable that the city routinely passes on these revenue makers, especially in this day and age.
that oval was built a few years back and isn't much more than a rut in the ground. it can be seen on/in the field to the north of the ice rink. (there is a red/ white and blue hydrant in the middle of it). not only is it not cold enough in the winter to maintain, but workers would have to go out and shovel the ice in the winter when it snows and etc.
and the idea of a world class skate shop is laughable. while i agree with everything else you're saying, that skate shop is too small to do anything but draw money away from the city, (in the case of rentals) and youth hockey (in the case of everything else they sell). there has been a couple of people who tried to make a go at that shop and couldn't make it there.
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