A rendering of the Riverside Park outdoor rink. (Image Credit: City of Kamloops)

By Victor Kaisar

Riverside Park Rink

Construction on outdoor skating rink at Riverside Park to begin in earnest next week

Mar 6, 2025 | 9:51 AM

KAMLOOPS — The City of Kamloops says construction of the long-planned outdoor skating rink at Riverside Park will get underway in earnest on Monday, and wrap up by early 2026.

Project Delivery Manager Adam Gordon says crews from Urban Appeal Landscaping will be focused on the concrete pad between the pickleball courts and the spray park at Riverside Park, where food trucks are often set up in the summer months.

“The whole area is going to be a refrigerated concrete slab, so in order to do that we need to excavate a little bit down and put in all of the brine lines and other cooling components,” Gordon told CFJC Today.

“As far as other aspects of work, we will need to build a small space for that chiller as well as for the Zamboni building because we’re going to need to be able to resurface the ice on a routine basis.”

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Gordon also said construction of the rink – which will only meant for drop-in skating – isn’t expected to significantly impact users of the Riverside Park spray park or playground this summer.

“We’re going to be set up there all of spring, summer, and well into fall, and possibly into the end of year as well,” Gordon said. “There will be some smaller activity taking place outside of that where we’re doing shallow utility installs, but we’re going to look to have that be on done in off-hours.”

City Councillors voted 6-2 to approve the project in February of last year, paving the way for detailed design and site regulatory approvals to take place. Mayor Reid Hamer-Jackson and Councillor Bill Sarai voted against the outdoor ice rink, while Councillor Nancy Bepple recused herself as she is a member of the Kamloops Outdoor Skating Association.

The February vote followed a 7-0 vote at Committee of the Whole from April 2023 to earmark money from the Growing Communities Fund toward the skating rink. Bepple recused herself once again, while Councillor Mike O’Reilly was not present at the committee meeting.

At the time of approval, the city said the outdoor skating rink was expected to cost around $5.4 million, though it now says the present-day cost is $7.16 million.

“There have been a couple of commodity based increases that we have had to absorb and this is unrelated to the tariffs,” Gordon said of the $1.76 million increase. “It’s just general escalation that we’ll typically see.”

“As well, there was a greater sentiment towards investing in not just the skating area but supporting amenities. Things like those benches and the like that will add to the experience of coming down there in the winter to go skating.”

He also said the skating rink will still be fully funded from the province’s Growing Communities Fund. Year-round maintenance is also expected to be around $130,000, based on previous City estimates.

“The facility will support winter event hosting opportunities, such as winter festivals, live music, food vendors, seasonal celebrations, park enhancements and decorations, and will include an opportunity for skate rentals,” Gordon said, noting the rink will be free to use during the months of December and March.

He also said the new outdoor skating rink will add to previous enhancements at Riverside Park like the new accessible playground and water park as well as flood mitigation work that has already been completed.

“During the summer, the unfrozen concrete pad will be available for staging food trucks and other recreational activities,” Gordon added. “The looped pathway will also improve park accessibility for those with mobility challenges.”

“Before the Christmas break is still on the optimistic side of where we’re hoping to be on completion though early 2026 is what we’re targeting for a pragmatic completion date.”

You can find more details about the outdoor skating rink at Riverside Park here.