Residents in the city of Dieppe, N.B. wanting to go for a skate on the city’s relatively new outdoor skating oval found themselves out of luck Wednesday as the rink has been closed down indefinitely.
In addition to outdoor rinks being closed due to the mild weather being seen in the province, people who passed by the area’s only refrigerated outdoor rink found Closed and “Danger Thin Ice” signs placed in front of the oval.
According to a release on the city’s website on Wednesday, mild temperatures showed that there was a persistent issue with the refrigeration piping.
People hoping to skate said they were disappointed with the news.
“It’s sad, I like to have my girlfriend down here and go for a little skate around the oval and listen to the live music on Friday nights when it’s down here,” said Phillip Nicholle on Thursday. “Sad to see it go, I guess.”
The system consists of refrigerated pipes in a concrete bed designed to keep ice solid in temperatures up to 12 C.
It’s not the first time the $1.4-million facility has experienced issues. Though the rink has been considered a huge success with residents taking advantage of its size and location since opening in December, it was forced to close in January when a fault in the maintenance valve was detected. It reopened about two weeks ago.
City engineers were at the rink Thursday to check on the progress of work done the day before. Officials say they are conducting tests on the piping and are waiting for results.
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