Officials with the Municipality of the District of Guysborough have set a closing date for the ice surfaces at the Chedabucto Lifestyle Complex.
They decided to shut down the shinny rink and figure eight skating loop March 8 during February’s regular municipal council meeting Wednesday afternoon.
After, Vernon Pitts, Guysborough’s warden, said some want it to stay open for March break, but it can cost in excess of $1,000 a day to keep operating that late in the season.
“(It’s) $150-$200 per day previous to that, so it’s quite a significant cost,” he said. “That’s not taking into account the public works employees doing their share.”
Pitts said councillors will likely make it municipal policy to close the Sunday before March 10 some time before the next season.
He said there are two main reasons they went with that date.
“It’s too expensive to maintain the ice- the sun is much stronger that time of year,” he said. “It’s also a safety concern- we have people skating, all of a sudden you’re skating (on) hard ice, you hit soft ice, someone’s going to get hurt, (and) it’s not worth the liability.”
Pitts said more than 1,000 people used the facility during the February long weekend.
