Windsor City Council is being asked for direction on the future of the skating rink at Charles Clark Square, which needs an estimated $1-million in repairs.
An administration report going to the June 13 meeting of Council asks for $300,000 in funding from the City Hall Square and Civic Esplanade project, money that would be used to hire a consultant immediately to begin the design of a new outdoor ice rink at City Hall.
In the spring of 2022, IMCO Refrigeration attended Charles Clark Square to address concerns about a significant brine leak at the facility and successfully repaired five leaks at a cost of $15,000. However, several leaks are still evident and, as a result, the rink will not be able to open for the 2022/2023 season until all the leaks are discovered and repaired.
Charles Clark Square is located at 215 Chatham St. E., not far from Windsor City Hall, Caesars Windsor and Windsor Police Headquarters.
Jennifer Knights, Executive Director of Recreation & Culture for the City of Windsor, says the estimated cost to complete the repairs needed is around $1-million.
"The design of the rink itself and the perimeter piping creates come challenges for us in how they coincide, which is causing hand excavation to be required and a lot of discovery to find the leaks, so it's not an easy process to go through," she says.
Knights says they've already done some work at Charles Clark Square but are still working to get the all the leaks identified and repaired.
"When we get to the point where we've fixed all the repairs and the system is functioning that another one might occur, which is our fear moving forward. The current design of the rink at Charles Clark makes it a big challenge to find them and repair these leaks," she says. "We're hoping a new design moving forward will alleviate that and be a better choice."
Knights says they are looking for ideas from council on what the consultant could consider for a potential new outdoor rink.
"There are other outdoor rinks in the province that could be used for inspiration. I think certainly with our weather, we would be looking to trying and create something that could be used as long as possible during the season." she says. "So we will rely on the consultant and their expertise to come forward with some detailed information so that we could take a peek at would be viable moving forward."
According to the report going to Council, the high level costs for a new basic outdoor rink is expected to be in the $4-million range which includes basic rink infrastructure and a small building to house the ice resurfacing equipment, limited hardscaping around the rink and limited lead-walks for access.
The report proposes the location of a new outdoor rink could be on the north side of the recently constructed City Hall in the green space.
The city has been working on designs to create a multi-use space in front of Windsor's new City Hall, to be built on land that was once occupied by the previous City Hall building, as part of a proposed $32-million project to link the City Hall Square land to a revamped Riverfront Festival Plaza.
(Photo courtesy of the City of Windsor)