BANFF – Residents and tourists will have another place to skate in Banff with the opening on a new outdoor rink on Bear Street on Friday (Jan. 8).
In early December, town council approved the creation of the $55,000 skating rink in the surface parking lot of the 200 bock of Bear Street as part of a winter pedestrian zone.
Town of Banff officials say they were putting the finishing touches on the rink on Thursday (Jan. 7), which will provide another downtown skating opportunity in addition to the rink at Banff Community High School field.
Jason Darrah, the Town of Banff’s director of communications and marketing, said both rinks, as well as the outdoor one at the Fenlands recreation centre set aside for Bow Valley residents only, require registration to use.
“We are checking in people at the rinks to ensure we do not exceed capacity set by the province,” Darrah said.
The new rink on Bear Street, which will be open each day from 10 a.m. until 8 p.m. other than Fridays’s noon start, is limited to 20 skaters at a time. Individuals can register for one-hour time slots.
The outdoor rink at the meadow at the Fenlands rec centre, which is open from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. daily, has a maximum capacity of 20 skaters at a time.
Capacity at the high school rink, currently open from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m., is limited to 40 people at a time.
“The Banff Avenue high school rink will continue to be open, but high school classes will start using the ice on some days,” Darrah said.
Last month, council decided on the Bear Street skating rink as part of the winter pedestrian zone to help boost business and provide outdoor environments where visitors and residents can physically distance during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Administration had explored several options for the Bear Street surface parking lot, including a snow slide, curling sheets, ice sculpture garden, a rail jam or ski-snowboard trick course. These were all ruled out for various reasons, including Alberta Health Services’ advice in some instances.
Administration suggested to council that the most likely to succeed is a skating rink, modelled after the compact skating rinks found in urban centres such as European Christmas markets.
Construction to turn Bear Street into a woonerf, or living street, wrapped up for the winter in December, with plans to resume the work in spring, including paving the roadway.
Go to Banff.ca/active to make a free reservation for all three outdoor skating rink.
