Outdoor rinks made soggy by warm Thunder Bay weather

Unseasonably mild weather and rain has wreaked havoc with Thunder Bay's outdoor public rinks.

Most of the boarded rinks are closed due to melted ice and puddles.

Thunder Bays parks manager said it's been a struggle to make ice and keep it and keep it acceptable for skating.

This is the third time we are trying to start winter on the rinks, Paul Fayrick said.

We got them going, we had a few open. Then it warmed up. We got them back again. Then it warmed up again. So it's not been an easy start to winter for us that's for sure.

Fayrick added that, with cooler weather in the forecast this weekend, the city hopes to be able to flood some rinks on Saturday,Dec. 27.

"Our guys work half a day today, and then they would have Christmas Day and Boxing Day off. But the rink buildings would open again on Saturday, as staff will be on, he said.

It's supposed to go to -10 C and -15 C overnight, so they are going to start flooding again to bring them back into shape."

Outdoor rink buildings are not traditionally open on Christmas Day or Boxing Day, but will be open on the weekend.

Fayrick said the public rink at Prince Arthur's Landing remains in reasonably good shape thanks to an ice plant that keeps the water frozen in above-zero temperatures.

But for the rest of the rinks that dont have the extra help, "the challenge is going to be, if it's soft, or people have been out and carved them up, Fayrick said.

Snow, rain and warm weather are part of a whole range of things that can happen, Fayrick said.

[But] if it freezes up and it snows, and we can get the snow off the surface, it will make it easier to get the ice back."