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You are on the [cover page] of folder [Save Our Rinks Campaign Fall 2007]The Save Our Rinks Campaign of Fall, 2007.
These campaign pages (formerly saveourrinks.ca) are now part of the cityrinks.ca website.
Welcome To Save Our Rinks (Fall 2007 Campaign)
Save Toronto's outdoor rinks. A project of CELOS
To find out specific outdoor rink information, go to cityrinks.ca
posted September 24, 2007
Why "Save Our Rinks"?
Now that Mayor Miller's cuts to the outdoor rink season have been reversed, the city's 49 outdoor skating rinks will all be open by December 8. The new taxes for 2008 were passed by City Council on October 22, and even before that vote, MasterCard announced that they were donating $160,000 to the City, no strings, to open the rinks at the planned time. See Press Release.
But the outdoor rinks are far from being on solid ice yet. The rinks have opened between 2 and 4 weeks late every year since amalgamation, and there are long-term problems with how they are run. There are even signs that the city has considered closing many of them permanently. This website will now be a LOG of efforts by rink users and city rink staff, to make the rinks secure and well-run: to save our rinks over the long term.
Save Our RinksToronto's outdoor rinks are a basic resource. They should be supported and improved, not cut back or closed altogether.  Dufferin Rink |
Join Save Our RinksTo join Save Our Rinks, and subscribe to our e-news, enter your email address below: If you would like us to subcribe you directly instead, send your request to [email protected]. |
Budget Crisis 2007
Rinks by the numbers Users, costs, locations, staff.   Paula Fletcher Tracking City Council We're collecting comments from various councillors, especially members of the City's Parks and Environment committee, which is responsible for outdoor rinks.  CELOS (Centre for Local Research into Public Space) is accumulating some background material on City of Toronto budget management issues. |
About Our Outdoor Rinks Toronto has 49 outdoor Artificial Ice Rinks - unique in the world. Here's a map to show you where they are. Long Term Problem It seems that Parks management may be working to close the outdoor ice rinks permanently.  What needs fixing (and How To Fix It) Friends of rinks have collected experience with our rinks over many years. Troubled ice maintenance, restricted hours of operation, unenforceable helmet policy, etc., all get in the way, and can all be fixed. Outdoor Rinks and Weather Based on over 10 years of tracking, the outdoor rink season should be early November to late February. |
How to get involved Take Action Ask your councillors to save our rinks, e-mail them here. Insist that Paula Fletcher puts rink issues on the agenda of the Parks and Environment committee.  Read rink publications CELOS has prepared an ice rink report, handbook, and workbook, so that others can build on a decade's collected experience in rink operations.  The list of rinks This is a subsite of the cityrinks.ca website, and has been collecting information on 26 of the downtown rinks for years. Information on the other rinks is being added this year (2007-=2008). There are pictures, stories, and even periodic daily diaries for some of the rinks. Share your thoughts Send us an email. We'll include representative comments in the What Rink Users Say section. |
Content last modified on January 03, 2008, at 09:11 PM EST