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Date: 2/4/2021
WESTFIELD – After weeks of waiting for the right temperature, Amelia Park Arena opened its outdoor ice rink on Jan. 30 after freezing cold temperatures and a bitter wind chill the day before.
Amelia Park’s Assistant General Manager Christina Pagella said conversations about the outdoor rink initially began in late summer.
“This is an idea I believe they tried in the past before my time at Amelia. Over the past couple of years that I have been here, people have recommended that we try it. This year we decided that we wanted to do the outdoor rink and see for ourselves if it would work,” she said.
Without Facilities Director Peter Consoloni, Pagella said the outdoor rink would not have been possible.
“Our facilities director, Peter, who is phenomenal with all things ice, he’s done his own backyard sheets of ice for many years and he was really confident he could make this happen. Without him this wouldn’t be possible, all his brains and his time went into this,” she said.
Pagella said it took staff 12 hours to set up the 200-foot liner and pouring five inches of water into the rink.
“We already have an outdoor street hockey rink, so we didn’t have to build much, we used that as the layout. It took a lot of time for Peter to map out exactly how he was going to make it happen. I believe we bought a 200-foot liner that gets laid down before you even put down the water, it was 700 pounds and the whole process took about 12 hours with three or four guys,” she said.
Unlike its other ice times, Pagella said each day staff will check the weather before opening registration at 9 a.m.
“It’s all going to be weather dependent. Every day at 9 a.m. we’ll make a decision based on Mother Nature and if the weather is in our favor, I will open up registration for that day,” she said.
Pagella added that the outdoor rink would not have been possible without the help of Westfield Gas and Electric.
“They are our major sponsors, they helped ease some of the costs of purchasing that 700-pound liner, which was very expensive. They have been wonderful in helping us promote it and it would not be possible without the folks at Westfield Gas and Electric and Whip City Fiber,” she said.
From the social media response, Pagella said residents are excited for the chance to skate outside.
“We’ve seen a huge response on social media, everyone is very excited. I think people are looking for things they can safely do now, I also heard from a few customers who are a little bit hesitant to do any indoor skating, so the outdoor rink is a way for them to come and feel safe while skating,” she said.
As with indoor skating, each participant can bring along up to two adults and siblings for spectating, while 25 people can skate at a time because of the current COVID-19 regulations and interested skaters can sign up for indoor or outdoor skating at ameliaparkarena.org.