The city will keep 12 more outdoor skating rinks open for a month after corporate sponsors stepped forward Friday to help extend the public skating season.
The extended skating comes thanks to Green For Life (GFL), a city-contracted garbage collector that stepped forward to offer the money Friday, as well as a second still-unnamed corporate sponsor.
Standing in front of skaters at Nathan Phillips Square Friday afternoon, Mayor John Tory thanked GFL and said details were still being finalized with the second sponsor.
“I think it’s fitting in a place like this that’s all about hockey that we should have the rinks open longer,” Tory said.
Despite the frigid temperatures still gripping the province, 35 city-owned rinks were set to close Sunday due to budgetary constraints.
The city has 52 outdoor rinks, 17 of which were already scheduled to remain open until March 22. The donations announced Friday mean that a total of 29 city rinks will remain open through March 22.
Speaking with reporters Friday, Mayor Tory said the closure of the other 35 was planned by city staff according to when usage tends to drop off and when weather starts to warm up. However the city has been experiencing a rash of very cold days, with temperatures expected to stay well below zero for the next few weeks.
It takes $4,500 per week to keep just one of the skating rinks open, Tory said.
After word got out that 35 of the rinks were set to close Sunday, a number of donors came forward offering to help.
“We’re in a situation now where we haven’t really had to approach people as much as they’ve been approaching us,” Tory said earlier Friday. “I think it shows you what a great city we live in.”
The city has not yet said which extra rinks will remain open, however city officials said it would be based on which rinks are most used.
Tory said going forward he’d like to see the city examine whether the regular closing date for some of the rinks should be later.
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