In response to overcrowding during the weekend, city officials have closed the skating rink in front of city hall “until further notice.”
The outdoor Market Square rink opened last Wednesday and was shut down at 8 p.m. on Sunday – two hours before it was scheduled to close for the day. It won’t reopen, explained city spokesperson Stacey Hare, until there is clear direction from the province, in light of the anticipated move to lockdown.
“We had one report of almost 60 people … at one point,” she said, noting the maximum allowed under provincial regulation is 25 people at the moment. “Some of the skaters weren’t wearing masks.”
After passing by on Saturday, Mayor Cam Guthrie tweeted a plea for people to “pretty please” follow health guidelines at the rink, “with a cherry on top.”
Hare said the rink was temporarily closed “a few times” throughout the weekend to “shoo people off the ice.”
“That facility presented a challenge over the weekend,” she said.
