Ice rink getting plenty of use this winter

by Angie Asam, Staff Writer

With winter coming early and staying cold and snowy, the ice rink at Sports Park in Rogers City has seen a flourish of activity.

According to department of public works supervisor Roger Wenzel, the ice rink is averaging more than 35 kids skating per night and has been open for more than 400 hours to date.

The city floods the rink in the morning hours and has already put more than 200,000 gallons of water on it making a nice skating surface. In addition to flooding the rink, the city takes care of clearing the ice of snow.

Wenzel would like to bring back an old idea for the rink that he would like to see in place

by next winter. ?We want to get a hockey rink. It has been over 15 years since we had a hockey rink down there,? said Wenzel.

His idea is to get hockey boards, either used or new and put them around the paved area put in by the Optimist Club for the skateboarding/in-line skating park. The boards would enclose the area including the basketball hoops and would be left up year round so that street hockey also could be played in the summer.

Wenzel would like to see the work done by next winter so it could be enjoyed. ?We need boards, used or new and we need support from the community,? said Wenzel.

The ice rink has been open since December 19 and has seen plenty of use as the cold temperatures make it easy to maintain. The rink is open from 3-9 p.m. on week nights and noon-9 p.m. on the weekends.