As much as hockey and ice rinks seem to go hand-in-hand, it is a liability when Canada乌鸦传媒檚 game is played on Penticton乌鸦传媒檚 outdoor ice rink, says the volunteer group Activate Penticton who operate the facility.
乌鸦传媒淚 hate to be the Hockey Grinch, but the Penticton outdoor rink is not the right place for hockey and the repeat offenders who keep coming to play there are making us consider shutting it down,乌鸦传媒� said Drew Barnes, president of Activate Penticton.
The volunteers at Activate Penticton said they are getting close to melting the ice and closing the rink down after parents, kids and many adults continued to break the rules over the Christmas break and play hockey on the outdoor rink situated beside Gyro Park.
This comes after Activate Penticton issued a warning on Dec. 20, saying that hockey is not allowed on the rink except for private booking from 8 a.m. to noon each day. If the stick and puck continued they would consider closing the rink.
The issue is liability, said Barnes.
乌鸦传媒淭he rink was built for public skating. It doesn乌鸦传媒檛 have enough netting or glass for hockey and it乌鸦传媒檚 a liability issue for us,乌鸦传媒� said Barnes. 乌鸦传媒淲e all love hockey but this isn乌鸦传媒檛 the right place.乌鸦传媒�
Barnes said he was at the rink at least 10 times over Christmas break and the ice was 乌鸦传媒榙ominated乌鸦传媒� by hockey.
乌鸦传媒淭here are repeat hockey players that come that are very disrespectful. Even parents who are being aggressive. Our volunteers don乌鸦传媒檛 feel safe enforcing the rules. This isn乌鸦传媒檛 a city-owned facility so bylaws can乌鸦传媒檛 issue tickets. We can乌鸦传媒檛 issue tickets. We have no way to enforce the rules except to ask people to not play hockey,乌鸦传媒� said Barnes.
乌鸦传媒淪adly, we are getting close to shutting it down. It乌鸦传媒檚 the last thing we want to do.乌鸦传媒�
Barnes said they are getting calls and emails from people saying they came there to skate or take their grandchild or child skating but the ice was taken up by hockey.
Activate Penticton will not consider setting aside times just for hockey during public skate hours. Barnes said that wasn乌鸦传媒檛 an option and that wasn乌鸦传媒檛 the intended use of the rink.
Barnes and all of Activate Penticton are begging hockey players to stay off the ice or make a private booking or else their actions will ruin it for everyone.
