The latest proposal for an outdoor skating rink at Riverside Park is not going ahead after the city failed to receive a grant (Image Credit: CFJC Today)

By Chad Klassen

NO OUTDOOR RINK

Outdoor skating rink project put on ice after City’s grant application rejected

Apr 16, 2020 | 4:42 PM

KAMLOOPS — The construction of a new spray park and outdoor skating rink would have started at Riverside Park next year. But without a $4 million grant, the project is not going ahead.

“Unfortunately, we got the bad news that the Community Culture and Recreation grant application that we submitted for Riverside was not accepted,” noted civic facilities manager Jeff Putnam. “We’ve reached out to the ministry just to get a bit more detail on why it wasn’t succesful. There’s usually a whole bunch of reasons why. One thing they did indicate in the letter was, I believe, they had $170 million across the province and it was over-subscribed.”

The outdoor rink, which would’ve cost $3 million to build, was part of the a $6 million revitalization project for Riverside Park. The Kamloops Outdoor Skating Association pushed hard for the project, which is now on ice.

“We’re disappointed. We spent more than three years working to bring outdoor skating back to Kamloops,” said member of the Kamloops Outdoor Skating Association Nancy Bepple. “It was a great opportunity, so there is disappointment.”

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Bepple and her group will go back to the drawing board and see what other options are out there. But the association is confident it will come to fruition one day.

“Over the last three years, we’ve seen widespread support within the city from all types of people for the idea of having a refrigerated outdoor ice rink, and we know the city supported it, too,” she said. “They put forward the proposal to the province and it wasn’t the right time in terms of funding, but that doesn’t lessen the support from people here in the community.”

A successful proposal would have seen the spray park toys, which are about 30 years old, replaced with new, removeable ones. It would’ve allowed for a spray park in the summer and an outdoor rink in the winter on the same footprint.

While this particular rendition of the project is dead, the city says once the COVID-19 pandemic has passed, it plans to put forward another proposal to council.

The city says the current spray toys will need to be replaced soon anyway, whether there’s a rink or not.

“It’s still in pretty good condition, but within the next five years, it will need a significant facelift,” said Putnam. “If we could time that with potentially another grant for an outdoor skating rink, it would be great.”

The city says some parts of the revitalization project will be going ahead. Utilities services manager Greg Wightman says bank stabilization and flood prevention measures will happen.