Regina outdoor rinks open

Just in time for Christmas, Regina residents will get a chance to take out their skates and enjoy the outdoors on rinks.

The City of Regina opened up 30 of its 52 rinks on Monday. A complete list of which rinks are open can be found online.

“We’re a little behind with some of the warmer weather and getting the rest of the rinks ready,” said Jeff May, manager of sport facilities and special events with the city.

Ice shelters will also be open, with 12 of them operated by City of Regina staff and 22 by community associations.

May said that after discussions with the province, there will be capacity limits in place for the ice shelters and on the rinks.

“We have will have staff at the rink, they’ll be there to ask people to obey the maximum limit. When the rinks are unstaffed, and some rinks are not supervised at all, we are relying on the public’s voluntary compliance with the posted maximum amount,” May said.

There will also be no equipment rentals by the city this year.

But people hoping to work on their wrist shot will get an opportunity, with hockey nets available for use.

“The current public health order prevents game play but you can practise. A team can’t use an outdoor rink to do outdoors what is prohibited indoors,” May said.

“We’re leaving the nets out there because folks can use them voluntarily, keep their minimum distance between themselves and members of other households and shoot around and have some fun.”