WINNIPEG — The unseasonably warm November weather could mean another year of late opening dates for outdoor rinks.
At the brand new Norwood Community Centre rinks, the ground between the boards is still muddy and soft.
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“The ground’s not frozen yet and until we get cold enough weather to start doing that we’re on a wait and see,” said Barry Nacci, general manger of the community centre.
Nacci can’t start flooding the rinks, which have just finished being built, until the ground is frozen.
That means he needs temperatures to reach steadily below zero before he starts the flooding process which can take weeks since four inches of ice are needed to open the rinks.
“We’re wanting cold, cold weather,” he said.
Last year, the old rinks opened on December 22, and Nacci believes this year will be even later unless there is a drastic change in the forecast.
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The four rinks at North Kildonan Community Centre opened on December 21 last year, the latest opening since 1986 when stats about the ice began to be collected.
They’re also built on the ground, not concrete, and the ice crew there also thinks it could be the new year before their ice surfaces are ready
The rinks built on concrete could open sooner.
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