Ice-skating rink on horizon for Connellsville
There have been a few hiccups in the plan to bring an ice skating rink to Connellsville, but Mayor Greg Lincoln isn’t giving up.
He is back to the original plan: constructing the rink at Woodruff Park on Connell Avenue.
“Woodruff was our first choice because the city owns that park,” Lincoln said. “There’s lighting, and easy access to the park. And ample parking for people to come down.”
The original idea was to use one-half of the Woodruff Park basketball court, which Lincoln said was built to be flooded and frozen, but that fell through because the leaky surface wouldn’t hold water long enough to freeze.
The basketball court at South Side Elementary was considered the second option, but the city Parks and Recreation Board also encountered the same problem: water draining through the cement.
But a donated gift from New Pig Energy in Altoona will likely be the solution to the problem.
According to Lincoln, the recreation board will acquire a liner from New Pig Energy that is used for retention ponds at natural gas-well sites.
“This liner is the real thing,” Lincoln said. “It weighs (more than) 1,500 pounds. It’s very durable. It’s going to hold the water.”
Lincoln said the 80-foot-by-100-foot liner was supposed to be installed Wednesday at Woodruff Park, but because of weather concerns, it has been pushed back. He hopes it will be installed by Friday.
“Then we’re hoping New Haven Hose will have time to put water in there and fill it,” Lincoln said. “We just want it to freeze.”
Lincoln said half of the basketball court will be used for the rink, and the other half will be an area for people to sit around fire pits, drink some hot chocolate, and watch people skate.
“We have big plans,” he said. “It all depends if the water is frozen. It’s amazing how hard it’s been to freeze water.”
If the endeavor is successful, this will not be the first time people have enjoyed ice-skating in Connellsville.
Lincoln said it’s been about 20 years, but there used to be an ice-skating rink at the South Side park.
“People have found memories of it, and they want it for their kids and grandkids,” Lincoln said. “There are so many people that want this to happen. I’m hoping Mother Nature can give us cold weather for a week.”
Although he’s focusing on getting it up and running this year, Lincoln sees ice-skating as a yearly winter event if the temperatures are cold enough.
Lincoln hopes the rink will be frozen by next week.
“I’m hoping we get enough cold weather that will freeze it enough that people can go down there and ice skate and have a good time,” he said. “I just really think it will be a lot of fun.”