Calls to make oval permanent need ‘sober second thought’: Friends of Common
Posted Jan 5, 2011 05:28:21 AM.
This article is more than 5 years old.
Although demand for the Canada Winter Games oval to be a permanent fixture on the Halifax Common is growing, one local organization is calling for sober second thought.
Mayor Peter Kelly said this week that he wants to find a way to make the speed skating oval a permanent winter attraction, noting more than 40,000 people have laced up for a free skate since the ice opened two weeks ago.
The mayor’s words have sparked a groundswell of support among the public. An online petition has already gathered over 1,200 signatures as of this morning and there are growing numbers of Facebook groups calling for the oval to be made a permanent winter attraction.
But Beverly Miller with Friends of the Common tells the Rick Howe Show, supporters aren’t thinking the idea through.
“I think it’s an idea that’s premature,” she said. “I think the mayor is simply thinking out loud at the moment.”
Miller notes the refrigeration units used to create the ice have been promised to other community organizations, and adds there are other logistical concerns to keep in mind.
“I think the biggest concern, of course, is what do you do with that space in the summer?” she said.
Coun. Dawn Sloane says the options are almost endless.
“We could have it as a rolling skate rink, we could put in volleyball courts with sand,” she said. “There’s so many things that we could do.”
Sloane says she’s received overwhelming public support for keeping the rink.
“I’m getting phone calls from outside the actual municipality, I’m getting emails from people in Fall River and people within the municipality saying ‘This is what we need,'” she said.
Kelly tells the CBC even though the rink’s refrigeration units have been promised to other locations, the city could use the half million dollars budgeted to move them to buy new ones and keep the existing units on the Common.
