Saskatoon skating oval ready to welcome skaters

(Hallee Mandryk/CTV News)

The Clarence Downey Speed Skating Oval is all set to welcome skaters on Monday after months of preparation.

“Into September, we finish up our track and field programs. We clear all the equipment off, including our throws cage. We’ve got to bring a crane in to move it because the track goes right where the cage would be. And we spend about a week putting down about seven to eight thousand tiles,” said Johnny Marciniuk, operations manager for the Gordie Howe Sports Complex.

After the tiles are laid, Marciniuk explained that 10-inch beams are placed around the inner and outer perimeter of the track. Then, a series of 42 interlocking tarps are put into place.

Around October, sandbags are set down and the crew patiently waits for December temperatures to allow flooding to begin.

The hard work, however, doesn’t end when the ice is in place. Marciniuk said the Zamboni is used daily to maintain the quality of the ice.

“The way our temperatures and environment here is, we go from -30 to plus temperatures. And so we get some cracking, so we fill cracks daily just to make sure it’s safe. And then, we, flood the ice in the, in the morning prior to 11, where the public is invited here to skate,” Marciniuk said.

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The operations manager said all of the hard work certainly pays off. The rink sees a significant amount of use throughout the winter.

“We have school groups that come during the day. We also have public skaters. We’ll have some people come over the noon hour and do their 50, 60 laps every day. There’s some people that are here absolutely every day, every weekday,” Marciniuk said.

The engineering behind transforming a track and field venue into a skating oval is something that took years to design.

“We believe it’s the only one in Canada and actually the only one in the world that has natural ice instead of an ice plant. I don’t want to call it an engineering marvel, but it’s pretty close,” Marciniuk said.

While the rink is home Lions Speed Skating Club, the ice welcomes skaters of all levels during public skating hours which fall Monday to Friday 11 a. m. to 5 p.m. and 7:30 to 8:30 p.m., in addition to 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. on weekends.

“We have people that are new to this country. We have young skaters that come out with their little chairs to skate and families. It’s really just part of our heritage here, skating - whether it’s a small town or the city,” Marciniuk said.