Anyone who has driven by the intersection of Elmdale Street and Barkman Avenue recently will have noticed a lot of construction activity. 

Russ Dyck, Head of Steinbach Parks and Recreation, says they are in the process of building a new outdoor ice rink.  

“With the new Southeast Event Centre that is hopefully coming up in the next little bit, we needed to move our existing outdoor rink and so we are just moving it down the block” 

Dyck notes the new rink should be a real improvement. 

“We are making this one a full-size ice rink and so that is 85 feet wide and 200 feet long. It will be fully lit with mesh all around. We are installing 10-foot mesh on the sides and 12-foot on the ends and so it should contain the pucks very well. We are looking to include two change rooms in a building there with a washroom for use with the outdoor rink.” 

For context, Dyck says the old outdoor rink was 81 feet wide and 180 feet long. It may not seem like a big change, but Dyck says it will make a real difference.  

“We are putting in a sand surface and that allows us to put in some beach volleyball courts. With a larger rink, we are able to put in four volleyball courts so that should be something that people can look forward to for summer use.” 

A stack of woodMany of the boards for the new rink are made from trees that have been removed to make room for the Southeast Event Centre. Photo credit: Russ Dyck.

Aside from those obvious improvements, Dyck says there is something that makes this project extra special. He notes “A lot of the rink boards are made out of the trees that we removed for the upcoming event centre on Hanover. Those trees were all processed, cut into boards, painted, and will be used as the boards in this new outdoor rink.” 

Dyck says they are planning to have the new outdoor rink and all of the supporting facilities ready for this coming winter, though that is dependent on the weather during construction.