Rink change area: Separate, windowless men's and women's skating changerooms. Coffee and pop machines present. Bathrooms were clean on our visit. The rink change area and washrooms are locked until 3 pm Monday to Friday

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Comments about this rink: e-mail us at [email protected].

2021 - 2022

Nov.27, 2021

Opened for the season

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Rink diaries from earlier years:

2020 - 2021

COVID-RELATED RESTRICTIONS: To find out how to book a skating time, go to the city's outdoor rinks web page.
All shinny hockey has been removed except for Greenwood (and only children and youth are allowed there). The city's opening rules are described here and our rinks blog is here.

Nov.28, 2020

Opening day

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2019 - 2020

No reports

2018 - 2019

Jan.29, 2019

The rink has been marked as open until yesterday and then it was listed as "snow removal in progress" (with over 25 cm of snow). At 3 p.m. it was again listed as open.

Jan.19: snowing.

This is one of two city operating rinks that's listed as "service alert: rink will be cleared of snow tomorrow morning." It's been open almost every day of the rink season until today.

2017 - 2018

No entries

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2016 - 2017

No entries

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2015 - 2016

March 10, 2016

This rink was scheduled to stay open until March 20, but it was shut down for the season on March 10.

Feb.1, 2016

8 p.m.: Temp. 3 degrees, rink listed as closed.

Dec.5 2015

The rink was open. with 8 kids-and-parents playing shinny. Good ice. The rink's long-time building attendant came out and talked to me for a few minutes. He seems to find it painful to talk to cityrinks.ca visitors and so he goes into his windowless office and shuts the door. This year he lasted longer than other years -- brave.

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2014-2015

Dec.26, 2014 (Boxing Day)

The special "rink building won't be open until 3 pm" signs have gone, but at 12 noon the doors were locked anyway. Maybe the pop machines inside need protecting. At any rate, there was only one skater on the rink and one dad and his kid in shoes, sliding. Plus two parents with kids in the playground, also unable to take their kids to the washroom if they need to.

Meantime, the Withrow Rink building nearby was open without staff at the same time -- but they don't have pop machines. The Greenwood rink building and the Hodgson rink building were open with no or one staff (and there are pop machines in both places).

Staff say that the building hours are restricted because of low usage. But that can be a self-fulfilling prophecy -- who would want to come to a place that seems so inhospitable? Even the holiday schedule looks grim.

Holiday Hours: the city's rink information website/311 says there will be access to Rosedale Rink's changeroom/washroom on Boxing Day for three and a half hours (11 am to 12.30 pm, 8 to 10 pm), but not on Christmas Day or New Year' Day.

Dec.19: Response from Councillor Wong Tam's office

Dec.19 2014, email from CityRinks to Councillor Wong Tam's office

Dec.16 2014

We sent a link to the rink diary and a question to Councillor Wong Tam's office: "Any idea why this state of affairs?" They passed the email on to a rink foreman, and we're waiting for a response.

Dec.15 2014

At 12 noon the rink surface was locked, although the ice looked fine. There are signs on the change room door saying the building will be kept locked until 3 pm every day. This means no bathroom access and no place to sit to put on skates. There are rubber mats with holes in them, leading out to the rink surface. This rink looks a bit like a sad orphan.

The building hours don't correspond to the rink schedule -- hours of rink use are listed on the city/311 website as beginning at 9 am, and the city's web schedule says Where available, washroom and change rooms are open during regular operating hours. But that's not the case here.

---

2012-2013

See also: Editor's and Rink Users' blog

Rosedale Rink - Saturday December 8, 2012, from Will Lam

8pm-10pm Adult Shinny was quiet -- only 7 men showed with most in their twenties; and two men in their sixties. Everyone was very friendly and welcoming to include a newcomer (myself) joining in.

This rink is in a secluded area in wealthy Rosedale. There is only the single hockey rink with a well-kept change room and plenty of rubber mats to walk to and from the rink and change room. Due to its secluded location and the neighbourhood, there is quite a disparity between rink users at Rosedale and rinks like Dufferin. However, nearby Ramsden, and still in the affluent area (but quite visible off of Yonge) has had near overwhelming numbers during the Adult Shinny hours in the evening.

There was quite a bitter wind this night, but the rink was quite sheltered being in a park surrounded by mansions and trees. The ice was decent for being at least a week into the scheduled opening of the rink, but the recent warm weather and rain made the ice soft, but good enough to skate on. There was no staff on-site and I did not ask other users if the rink had opened on schedule on December 1

Thursday December 13, 2012, from William Lam

Last week at Ramsden Rink, a rink staff person told everyone at Adult Shinny to wear helmets the next time they played. Most everyone murmured to each other that they would do so (whether they meant to or not). Last night at Rosedale the single rink staff on duty confronted me as I arrived at the rink. She asked me very strongly whether I had a helmet. When I told her I did not she was very insistent that I and all the others had to play with helmets or that the next time we came without helmets she said we might not be allowed to play (!).

I told her that I sincerely doubted their ability to enforce this and to make players comply and that at Dufferin this is not enforced and hasn't been for years. She said that she would normally let us play at our own risk, but the City supervisor for the rinks would be coming to do inspections. What was she to do if the supervisor saw that they were not enforcing the policy? I asked then if there would be repercussions for rink staff and she was not at all sure.

She then said she was going to kick all the players off the rink at 10pm. This is when the rink closes, but the lights remain on for a longer period and, over the past few nights I have played, the other rink staff have been good enough to let everyone play on. At Dufferin, the rink staff allow users to play on unsupervised time from 9pm-11pm on the pleasure skating side during the permits on the hockey side and until the lights go off. I wonder why this can't happen here as long as rink staff don't mind putting the nets up and locking the rink later than 10pm.

The rink was quite busy during Adult Shinny -- quite a contrast to the past week with barely 6-8 players showing up. Now there were roughly 30 players and a goalie. At 9:45pm the same rink staff lady came on the ice and shouted that there was 15 minutes left until she locked the rink. Sure enough, at 10pm she came on and told everyone to get off. The game did stop but a number of stragglers continued to play with their friends. Others were angry and called her names behind her back. It did seem ridiculous to end the night while the bright lights shone on. However, I did not argue as the official closing time for the rink is at 10pm according to the Rosedale Rink page on the City website.

The lady hovered by the gate to the rink waiting for everyone to leave. As I was leaving I offered to help putting the nets up which she politely declined. I wished her a good evening, while she had a worried look at the 8-10 players that had not yet left the ice.

I'm now reviewing that, as of a few years ago and very likely to the present, there have been zero claims against the City for unhelmeted injuries on outdoor rinks. Next time I will inform the rink staff of this -- if they are worried about liability. If it is concussions we're worried about, helmets are no guarantee against such a thing. The lady seems worried about her and the staff's accountability if the supervisor shows up and reprimands them over this. I find this curious at Rosedale as the rink staff are often not onsite and last night was an exception. I wonder if the next time I show up sans helmet if I she will try and bar me from playing? I wonder if the supervisor is Kevin Mercer, supervisor of active living?

January 30, 2013

Interesting difference of approach between the comfortable tennis club on one side, with couch and chairs and signs of sociability, versus the windowless rink side. The message seems to be "put on your skates and get out." There is a staff person on site but he mainly stays in a windowless, unlabelled staff room at the end of the building.

See Diaries tab

Views of the rink

Rosedale Rink

Rosedale Rink An evening view

From The City of Toronto Website 2014-15

For the skating schedule, go to Rosedale, then click on Skating.

Notes

Toronto by the blade

by Dave Bidini, The Toronto Star

Feb. 20, 2005

11 a.m., Rosedale Rink: The Rosedale rink is adjacent to Rosedale park, the site of the first-ever Grey Cup game. It turns out that I've missed the game; there are only five hockey players left on the ice. A rink attendant tells me: "The shinny here is so famous that guys from Maple come down to play, which is weird because I spent my life getting out of Maple."

Sometimes, he leaves the rink key for players who want to play first thing in the morning (Eric Lindros, Jim McKenny and Stu Gavin have all skated the ice), and last year, scrubs lobbied and won the right to start games at 8 a.m., the earliest opening in the city. Today, there were 40 skaters, but the rink is now snowy and ragged. Still, I fire a few pucks, poke a few ribs. Inside the change room I come across the oldest Nescafe machine I've ever seen, with pictures of a guy who looks like Art Hindle drinking coffee with a girl who looks like Trudy Young. I like the Rosedale rink.

Rink Diary

2021 - 2022

Nov.27, 2021

Opened for the season

---

Rink diaries from earlier years:

2020 - 2021

COVID-RELATED RESTRICTIONS: To find out how to book a skating time, go to the city's outdoor rinks web page.
All shinny hockey has been removed except for Greenwood (and only children and youth are allowed there). The city's opening rules are described here and our rinks blog is here.

Nov.28, 2020

Opening day

---

2019 - 2020

No reports

2018 - 2019

Jan.29, 2019

The rink has been marked as open until yesterday and then it was listed as "snow removal in progress" (with over 25 cm of snow). At 3 p.m. it was again listed as open.

Jan.19: snowing.

This is one of two city operating rinks that's listed as "service alert: rink will be cleared of snow tomorrow morning." It's been open almost every day of the rink season until today.

2017 - 2018

No entries

---

2016 - 2017

No entries

---

2015 - 2016

March 10, 2016

This rink was scheduled to stay open until March 20, but it was shut down for the season on March 10.

Feb.1, 2016

8 p.m.: Temp. 3 degrees, rink listed as closed.

Dec.5 2015

The rink was open. with 8 kids-and-parents playing shinny. Good ice. The rink's long-time building attendant came out and talked to me for a few minutes. He seems to find it painful to talk to cityrinks.ca visitors and so he goes into his windowless office and shuts the door. This year he lasted longer than other years -- brave.

---

2014-2015

Dec.26, 2014 (Boxing Day)

The special "rink building won't be open until 3 pm" signs have gone, but at 12 noon the doors were locked anyway. Maybe the pop machines inside need protecting. At any rate, there was only one skater on the rink and one dad and his kid in shoes, sliding. Plus two parents with kids in the playground, also unable to take their kids to the washroom if they need to.

Meantime, the Withrow Rink building nearby was open without staff at the same time -- but they don't have pop machines. The Greenwood rink building and the Hodgson rink building were open with no or one staff (and there are pop machines in both places).

Staff say that the building hours are restricted because of low usage. But that can be a self-fulfilling prophecy -- who would want to come to a place that seems so inhospitable? Even the holiday schedule looks grim.

Holiday Hours: the city's rink information website/311 says there will be access to Rosedale Rink's changeroom/washroom on Boxing Day for three and a half hours (11 am to 12.30 pm, 8 to 10 pm), but not on Christmas Day or New Year' Day.

Dec.19: Response from Councillor Wong Tam's office

Dec.19 2014, email from CityRinks to Councillor Wong Tam's office

Dec.16 2014

We sent a link to the rink diary and a question to Councillor Wong Tam's office: "Any idea why this state of affairs?" They passed the email on to a rink foreman, and we're waiting for a response.

Dec.15 2014

At 12 noon the rink surface was locked, although the ice looked fine. There are signs on the change room door saying the building will be kept locked until 3 pm every day. This means no bathroom access and no place to sit to put on skates. There are rubber mats with holes in them, leading out to the rink surface. This rink looks a bit like a sad orphan.

The building hours don't correspond to the rink schedule -- hours of rink use are listed on the city/311 website as beginning at 9 am, and the city's web schedule says Where available, washroom and change rooms are open during regular operating hours. But that's not the case here.

---

2012-2013

See also: Editor's and Rink Users' blog

Rosedale Rink - Saturday December 8, 2012, from Will Lam

8pm-10pm Adult Shinny was quiet -- only 7 men showed with most in their twenties; and two men in their sixties. Everyone was very friendly and welcoming to include a newcomer (myself) joining in.

This rink is in a secluded area in wealthy Rosedale. There is only the single hockey rink with a well-kept change room and plenty of rubber mats to walk to and from the rink and change room. Due to its secluded location and the neighbourhood, there is quite a disparity between rink users at Rosedale and rinks like Dufferin. However, nearby Ramsden, and still in the affluent area (but quite visible off of Yonge) has had near overwhelming numbers during the Adult Shinny hours in the evening.

There was quite a bitter wind this night, but the rink was quite sheltered being in a park surrounded by mansions and trees. The ice was decent for being at least a week into the scheduled opening of the rink, but the recent warm weather and rain made the ice soft, but good enough to skate on. There was no staff on-site and I did not ask other users if the rink had opened on schedule on December 1

Thursday December 13, 2012, from William Lam

Last week at Ramsden Rink, a rink staff person told everyone at Adult Shinny to wear helmets the next time they played. Most everyone murmured to each other that they would do so (whether they meant to or not). Last night at Rosedale the single rink staff on duty confronted me as I arrived at the rink. She asked me very strongly whether I had a helmet. When I told her I did not she was very insistent that I and all the others had to play with helmets or that the next time we came without helmets she said we might not be allowed to play (!).

I told her that I sincerely doubted their ability to enforce this and to make players comply and that at Dufferin this is not enforced and hasn't been for years. She said that she would normally let us play at our own risk, but the City supervisor for the rinks would be coming to do inspections. What was she to do if the supervisor saw that they were not enforcing the policy? I asked then if there would be repercussions for rink staff and she was not at all sure.

She then said she was going to kick all the players off the rink at 10pm. This is when the rink closes, but the lights remain on for a longer period and, over the past few nights I have played, the other rink staff have been good enough to let everyone play on. At Dufferin, the rink staff allow users to play on unsupervised time from 9pm-11pm on the pleasure skating side during the permits on the hockey side and until the lights go off. I wonder why this can't happen here as long as rink staff don't mind putting the nets up and locking the rink later than 10pm.

The rink was quite busy during Adult Shinny -- quite a contrast to the past week with barely 6-8 players showing up. Now there were roughly 30 players and a goalie. At 9:45pm the same rink staff lady came on the ice and shouted that there was 15 minutes left until she locked the rink. Sure enough, at 10pm she came on and told everyone to get off. The game did stop but a number of stragglers continued to play with their friends. Others were angry and called her names behind her back. It did seem ridiculous to end the night while the bright lights shone on. However, I did not argue as the official closing time for the rink is at 10pm according to the Rosedale Rink page on the City website.

The lady hovered by the gate to the rink waiting for everyone to leave. As I was leaving I offered to help putting the nets up which she politely declined. I wished her a good evening, while she had a worried look at the 8-10 players that had not yet left the ice.

I'm now reviewing that, as of a few years ago and very likely to the present, there have been zero claims against the City for unhelmeted injuries on outdoor rinks. Next time I will inform the rink staff of this -- if they are worried about liability. If it is concussions we're worried about, helmets are no guarantee against such a thing. The lady seems worried about her and the staff's accountability if the supervisor shows up and reprimands them over this. I find this curious at Rosedale as the rink staff are often not onsite and last night was an exception. I wonder if the next time I show up sans helmet if I she will try and bar me from playing? I wonder if the supervisor is Kevin Mercer, supervisor of active living?

January 30, 2013

Interesting difference of approach between the comfortable tennis club on one side, with couch and chairs and signs of sociability, versus the windowless rink side. The message seems to be "put on your skates and get out." There is a staff person on site but he mainly stays in a windowless, unlabelled staff room at the end of the building.

---

Diary 2011 - 2012, Diary 2010 - 2011, Rink Diary 2009 - 2010, Diary 2008-2009, RinkDiary2006-2007, Rink Diary 2003 - 2004