It’s possible that as early as this coming winter, there will be a new location to lace up your skates in Outlook.
Many were caught by surprise with the news that a new outdoor rink will be established in the community, as revealed at a massive community BBQ event hosted by Riverbend Co-op on Thursday, June 13. The event, which attracted between 300-400 people, was held just behind the Jim Kook Rec Plex, which is also where the new rink space will be located.
Riverbend GM Greg Sarvis and Board President Brian Bartel made a special presentation to show their major commitment to the outdoor rink, handing over a cheque in the amount of a whopping $128,400 thanks to the Federated Co-op’s Community Spaces program. Receiving the cheque was Jordy Jones, Recreation Director for the Town of Outlook, as well as Dalas King, Fire Chief of the Outlook Fire Department.
“The Outlook outdoor arena project will provide first-class outdoor recreational opportunities so our entire community can go for a skate or play shinny,” said Greg. “This is going to be more than just plywood boards and such; it’s going to be something that I’m quite envious of and that I wish I had as a kid myself.”
The large amount should cover the entirety of the costs related to the outdoor rink space, which has been an idea for a few years. If all goes well, ground could be broken on it soon, and people could be skating in the space by the time winter arrives for another season.
The Town and the fire department have joined forces to help make the facility possible, and they’ll also be volunteering and maintaining the location, which will be known as the Co-op Community Rink once it’s complete.
“The plan is to build it just back here so that we can use the (ice surfacing machine) to do both,” said Jordy. “Since I moved here, the hockey side of minor sports has grown probably 110%, and I think the skating club has grown about 60%, so the amount of ice time that we have is dwindling for shinny and public skating, so this is going to give us an opportunity to expand on that and keep building our youth into being active in the community. We’re very excited about this.”
The new outdoor rink space will help ensure that people in Outlook and the surrounding area have better access to ice time. Jones noted that while the hope is to get things rolling and possibly have the space open in time this year, he won’t make any promises.
The outdoor BBQ event enjoyed sunny conditions, and many took the opportunity to walk over to the new Van Raay & Community Swimming Pool, which seemed to be begging for someone to jump in and enjoy. In addition to the supper being sold, of which the proceeds would benefit the pool, there were games and face-painting for the kids.
Sarvis said the turnout blew him and his staff away.
“Attendance definitely surpassed our expectations,” said Greg. “Doing chicken and ribs for 300 people is a big task!”
Questions were floating around in the days leading up to the BBQ over whether the promoted “special announcement” had anything to do with the new pool. And while the news of the new outdoor rink wasn’t connected to the aquatic facility, Riverbend’s other announcement was. In addition to revealing the new outdoor rink, Riverbend also announced that they would be donating the supplies needed for the water slide at the new pool, which amounted to $15,000. This effectively brings Riverbend’s total contributions to the pool to $26,605.
