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Refrigerated rink could be put on ice

Committee recommends city council de-fund refrigerated ice rink; possibility open for planning it with future park
St. Albert Place
FILE PHOTO/St. Albert Gazette

St. Albert could be putting the brakes on building an estimated $1.2-million refrigerated ice rink and dome, after city staff advised against the project.

City council has yet to examine the issue, but its community living standing committee voted on Monday to recommend that council members remove two motions from the books authorizing funding for the project.

Staff recommended cancelling the project entirely, after hearing definitively “not favourable” feedback from members of the public adjacent to Larose Park, where the city was contemplating building the rink.

A rink St. Albertans can skate on even in weather above 0 C would still be possible even if city council follows the recommendation – but only in conjunction with a future park project.

Committee members discussed planning the rink in conjunction with Millennium Park or with the future recreation facility.

Community recreation manager Daniele Podlubny said the city considered 20 different locations and landed on Larose Park as the ideal location.

Consultations drew feedback from a total of 32 people immediately adjacent to the park, Podlubny said

“They’re very valued assets in our communities,” she said. “I guess the major disjointment is placing that kind of amenity in a community site and looking for maybe the right location to place that.”

She added staff did not turn to the second highest-ranked location – Willoughby Park – because they felt they could extrapolate the data and feedback heard to most community park sites.

While the project’s original budget was approved for $1.2 million, Podlubny said regional research shows the rink could actually cost up to $3 million.

Coun. Sheena Hughes originally proposed the project in 2018 and voted against stalling the project.

“I’m really disappointed we just happened to ask one community and people behind it say, ‘No we have too many traffic problems already, so we don’t want to have it,’ and we’re just going to let it die,” she said.

Coun. Natalie Joly made the motion recommending council de-fund the rink, and noted sports groups have said a refrigerated rink would not meet their needs. The price tag was also a sticking point for her.

“This needs to be a destination site, and I look forward to seeing that when we see plans for either Millennium (Park), or the (community) amenities, because I think this is going to be a great addition to the city – just not in a community site,” she said.

Coun. Ken MacKay said he sees a lot of “great possibilities” with designing a park with a refrigerated rink, and it could “defeat some of the opposition” heard from residents.

Committee’s recommendation to remove two motions funding the refrigerated rink project from city books will be debated at a future city council meeting.

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