Ice rentals are back at Memorial Gardens

For the first time since March the ice is in at Memorial Gardens.

The arena reopened this week.

The city’s Manager of Sports and Events Melinda Fry tells BayToday they’re following the COVID-19 guidelines.

“We have worked closely with other arenas in our region, the Ontario Hockey Federation and Hockey Canada, we have also had a close working relationship with our local health unit to make sure we are following all the COVID-19 procedures,” she says.

Fry says children are coming to the rink dressed in their equipment and wearing masks, along with their parents.

Once their skates are on they can remove the mask and put on their helmet.

There are 30 chairs in the north concourse and 30 separate chairs in the lobby.

Most areas of the arena are closed with staff sanitizing the open sections in the 15 minute gap in between bookings.

Fry says it’s great to hear the sounds of hockey practice again and it’s good for the children too.

“I think it provides a really nice opportunity for kids to get back to some type of normal because normally quite a few of them would have been skating already during the summer months over at Pete Palangio so I think it has been a long time coming,” she tells BayToday.

Check out the city’s website for ice availability.

(File photo by station staff)