Skaters can soon glide across the ice at Civic Square when the outdoor rink is ready next week.
Depending on the weather, town officials say that the ice should be ready for use by about Dec. 14, well in time for Christmas.
“Our outdoor rink is actually very similar to a hockey or any kind of [indoor] skating rink – it’s artificially frozen,” said Joel Dawe, Assistant Director of Parks and Recreation for the Town of Truro.
To make the rink, tarp is laid down on the grass and pipes are built over it. Water is pumped through the pipes and cooled with glycol to maintain the ice layer. Dawe described the process as a “basic heat transfer.”
All going to plan, people can skate at Civic Square until early March, but hockey games are not permitted, as pucks can injure people or damage nearby vehicles. There will not be any boarding installed to stop flying pucks.
“We do maintenance and keep the rink safe, but we don’t have monitoring 24 hours a day and hockey interferes with people who just want to skate,” said Dawe. “We want it for the enjoyment of everyone.”
Once the rink is open, people can borrow skates and helmets from the Douglas Street Recreation Centre.
