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Kitchener-Waterloo

Ice rinks are capped at 10 skaters. So a Waterloo neighbourhood built another

The rink at St. Moritz Park in Waterloo kept hitting its COVID-19 capacity. So a group of neighbourhood volunteers known as the Rink Rats decided to build another.

Volunteers make second rink at St. Moritz Park due to pandemic popularity, restrictions

Haydn Watters · CBC News ·
Jerry Walker oversees the rink volunteers, known as the Rink Rats, at St. Moritz Park in Waterloo. 'It’s something that gets us out of the house in the winter.' (Haydn Watters/CBC)

Outdoor ice rinks have proven popular, one of the few activities still open during lockdown. Too popular in fact for one Waterloo subdivision.

The rink at St. Moritz Park in the city's west end kept hitting its COVID-19 capacity of 10 people. So a group of neighbourhood volunteers decided to build another.

"We really saw a lot of people maybe turning away and not skating or just avoiding the rules," said Jerry Walker, who leads the 19 rink volunteers. "Our thought process was if we put a second rink in, we'd be able to double the capacity."

The city was on board and even offered a grant to help cover costs.

The city's COVID rules greet skaters on the new rink at St. Moritz Park. Walker said the nearby storm water management pond was becoming an 'attractive second option for people' so they partially built the second rink to make sure they weren’t forcing people to make unsafe decisions.' (Haydn Watters/CBC)

Walker's volunteers, known as the Rink Rats, fought with a wacky gradient, warm temperatures and a pool of water, but finally got the additional rink open last weekend, allowing up to 20 people to skate between the two rinks.

"Jokingly, we keep calling it the duck pond."

A pandemic pastime

Walker spends a ton of time tending to the rinks, bundling up late at night to scrape down and flood the ice several nights of the week. He does it for his daughter, who would typically be playing with the Waterloo Ravens right now.

"She enjoys coming out here and ... just getting a couple laps out and keeping her skating fresh," he said.

Jerry Walker has gotten more involved with the rinks because of his daughter Brynn. She would normally be playing hockey with the Waterloo Ravens and travelling to tournaments, so this winter has been different. (Haydn Watters/CBC)

Brynn, who is nine years old, is thankful for her dad's rink work, because she doesn't want to do it herself.

"They always do it late at night when I'm sleeping," she said. "It looks fun but hard because the flooding and the making of the rink. It just looks really hard."

Others are appreciative too. Michael Tikkanen comes often to play masked mid-day shinny with friends.

Michael Tikkanen frequents the rink at St. Moritz Park to play hockey with buddies. 'I’m retired now. I don’t play in a league anymore, but I still like to get out everyday.' (Haydn Watters/CBC)

"It's huge to me considering we're all stuck in our houses now," he said. "This is the only time we get to see our friends and get exercise."

Walker enjoys how it gets him out of the house and has brought him closer together with his neighbours.

"There's not many nights that we're up here flooding that somebody doesn't say thank you for what we do."

The original ice rink is on top of the neighbourhood tennis court. It was often hitting COVID capacity, so the rink volunteers decided to build another. (Haydn Watters/CBC)

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Haydn Watters

Reporter

Haydn Watters is a roving reporter for Here and Now, CBC Toronto's afternoon radio show. He has worked for the CBC in Halifax, Yellowknife, Ottawa, Hamilton and Toronto, with stints at the politics bureau and entertainment unit. He ran an experimental one-person pop-up bureau for the CBC in Barrie, Ont. You can get in touch at [email protected].

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