Residents in Gananoque, Ont., have been eager to lace up their skates and hit the Canada 150 rink since news broke that the town was gifted the boards and other materials from Parliament Hill.
But the rink has never seen a sheet of ice since concrete was poured in the summer of 2020.
According to the town, cracks began to appear on the surface of the concrete slab shortly after construction.
An independent engineer recommends council start from scratch, pouring a new pad, but staff are looking at other, less costly options including the application of a sealant over the cracks.
The rink was touted as a windfall for the small town when it was gifted to it from Parliament Hill. And while many residents are eager to see it up and running, others are wondering when the town will cut its losses.
“And it’s not done. There’s supposed to be outdoor changerooms built for this rink, there’s a zamboni that’s going to be needed to make it happen,” former Gananoque mayoral candidate John Beddows said. “And on top of that, when they relocated the tennis courts, they took a chunk out of the baseball diamond.”
“Now it becomes the town eyesore,” resident Mike Irvine added.
“The irony of it is that it was put on Main Street because it was supposed to draw all this great attention and unfortunately it’s been doing the opposite,” resident Liam Huntley said.
According to the report, two companies were hired to design and then build the rink, but neither is taking ownership of the defects.
Global News reached out to Mayor Ted Lojko for comment, but he said he didn’t feel comfortable commenting on the issue at this time. The company responsible for laying the concrete was also contacted, but didn’t return calls by publication time.
Global News was not able to reach the design company.