When this strike ends be prepared for a significant wait time as staff prepare / repair fields and rinks.
The malicious scattering of debris at Killarney Park highlighted other problems with that and other fields. Simply cutting the grass will not make the fields safe and playable. Killarney and other fields have holes and depressions which must be filled and then left to settle before they are safe for competitive sports.
Playing fields have to be cut, aerated, holes filled, rested, aerated again and more soil as fill settles before fields are ready for competitive play. Expect a month of preparation. That is if all the staff required to do the job are still working for the City.
Ice rinks, except for Britannia, had all their ice removed. Why Britannia's ice remains I don't know. It will take anywhere from 2 - 6 weeks to rebuild the ice in the remaining rinks (West End, Kerrisdale, Kitsilano, Riley Park & Sunset.) Killarney has been torn down and Trout Lake is scheduled for demolition as each will be a practice site for the 2010 Olympics. Minor Hockey programs will be placed under even greater scheduling pressure.
The 2 - 6 week time line presupposes no damage during ice removal or while rinks have sat empty. Sunset's ice rink will be a challenge as it is a sand floor and problems were uncovered when it was de-iced.
If the strike were to end this week playing fields and ice rinks would not be ready until mid to late October.
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4 comments:
6 weeks to put ice in! You should be able to take the sand floor out and put a concrete one in, AND get ice in it before 6 weeks.
Sunset was a concrete floor but that was destroyed by frost heaves during a very cold winter over a decade ago.
Sensors are now in place to so staff can respond to future frost heaves.
If another heave occurs sand is easier to repair than concrete.
I don't mean to be obtuse, PB, but I believe they do have indoor ice in almost every settlement in this country and most experience vastly colder winters than Vancouver, an ICE ARENA that heaves because of FROST just isn't acceptably designed. The capital cost of an ice arena while substantial pales in comparison to operating cost, maintenance and salaries for the life cycle of that arena.
Are you suggesting the Vancouver Park Board has built an inferior ice rink?
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