COLLINS: Okay, I might have been wrong
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SEVERAL YEARS AGO, I remember commenting that I thought the idea of an outdoor skating rink at Riverside Park was a harebrained scheme that was a colossal waste of taxpayers’ money and would not be technically feasible in a place like Kamloops because we didn’t get enough cold weather in the winter. Councillor Nancy Bepple was the most quoted supporter of the plan and I suggested she might want to consider some better use for the millions of dollars the project would cost.
But Nancy and others continued to lobby for it and last week, the rink opened. It looked a lot different than I envisioned it. I enjoyed the footage on CFJC Today, watching kids, seniors, couples old and young enjoy being out in the fresh air. No hockey of any kind, just a chance to enjoy some of the beauty of the city.
It is far too early to give the project a final grade. Much monitoring still has to be done. Have we kept to our budget? Did the equipment perform as expected? Were we able to make use of the rink on enough days to make it worthwhile? That’s the kind of work that has to be done.
It will not be all rosy. Security has to be planned. It likely won’t be cheap and we’re going to talk to a lot of users to see if we can make it better. All this while also planning a multiplex and performing arts centre.
