Athletic Park Outdoor Rink

The Athletic Park outdoor rink is a labour of love (and TIME) for our Recreation Parks Foreman, Kirk Billings. He has more than 20 years of experience flooding and maintaining the outdoor rink which is popular with skaters and hockey players young and old. Once the rink opens, it is available 24/7 and only closes due to poor surface conditions, warmer temperatures, or maintenance. Late night shinny under the dusk to dawn lights is as popular as afternoon skates with families. The elementary school adjacent to the rink (New Maryland Elementary) also regularly hosts ice skating activities as part of their physical education curriculum. The Village also holds an annual “Glow Skate” in the evening which features a bonfire, hot chocolate, and fun light-up novelties. This event welcomes hundreds of residents each year. The outdoor rink serves as a basketball court the other three seasons, and due to years of flooding, the court has sustained cumulative surface damage. Recognizing the changing weather patterns in recent years, we are hoping to build a “chilled” ice surface location within the next 3-5 years to allow for a longer skating/hockey season. In the meantime, we continue our efforts to build and maintain an outdoor rink for all of the community to enjoy no matter how short the season. 🙂