It’s time for Western New Yorker’s to sharpen their skates and get ready for a new season of “The Ice at Canalside.” Work is already underway on the popular outdoor rink to have it ready for colder weather.
The replicated canals where peddle boats and remote control sail boats floated all summer is nearly dry, and Canalside Grounds and Landscape Manager Dan Naubereit said visitors can expect to see ice in it as soon as the weather cooperates.
“Soon as the temperatures start dropping dramatically. It’s got to be a certain temperature,” explained Naubereit. “If it’s not a certain temperature than its just basically going to melt and it’s going to cause pockets. Then our ice engineers are kind of scurrying and it’s going to make a big old mess.”
Naubereit estimates that temperature needs to be in the 50s or cooler for the ice to be maintained. Large trailer-mounted refrigeration systems are already in place to support the process, and the rink’s side boards and rails have been brought out of Canalside’s storage terminal on the outer harbor.
Until the rink is ready, Naubereit’s six to seven man detail will work with Canalside’s ice engineers to ensure the rink and its surroundings are prepared.
“Basically we’re draining it, we’ve got to get it all cleaned up. As you can tell we had some boards put up. They’re putting all the boards in. We’ve got to put some rubber matting down so that way they can go walk on and off with the ice with the ice skates. We’ve got a lot of that to do, and keep everything cleaned up so that way when they do go put some sheets of ice down it’s all looking nice and doesn’t have all kinds of gunk in it,” said Naubereit.
Naubereit said crews hope to open the rink by November 13th.
