New Toronto rink has eco-friendly and cost-effective benefits

Harbourfront centre in downtown Toronto is installing a synthetic ice rink that will not only last 20 years, but will allow for summer skating.

Robert Hodichak, Artifical Grass and Landscaping (AGL) sales rep said there is a 98 per cent resemblance to real ice.

AGL is the company that is installing the polyolefin rink today. The compressed plastic comes in one by two metre panels that have a tongue-and-groove construction and a notched hole that will keep the panels in place and prevent expansion or shifting.

This is the first public project of the type AGL has done in Canada, but they have done private rinks for two NHL players.

Helder Melo, director of site operations for the Harbourfront Centre, told thedailyplanet.com he is really excited about this project and has been investigating products like this for the last few years.

Melo is most excited about Torontonians being able to use the rink in the summer months. “People can come down in their shorts and t-shirts and skate in July and August.”

Ice skaters can rejoice in year-round skating coming soon to Harbourfront.

The rink itself also has a number of eco-friendly and cost-effective benefits. There is no carbon emitted in resurfacing the ice, or keeping it refrigerated to stay frozen, just a silicone spray that refreshes the surface.

While Melo said while they are excited to unveil the 2,400 sq. ft. rink, there have been transportation delays. Starting tomorrow, however, there will be a 400 sq. ft. sample where people can check it out and see how it feels to skate on.

Both Melo and Hodichak hail the cost-effective qualities of the synthetic ice.

Melo said the new skating surface is a pilot project with costs being shared by AGL and Harbourfront Centre. A surface like the one being installed would sell for about $100,000 while maintenance fees are three times lower than real ice. Instead of using a Zamboni to resurface the ice, which costs over $100,000 to purchase, the synthetic ice only needs a surface spray of silicone and a brush off.

Hodichak said that maintenance is extremely easy. “It’s such a modular unit that it can be assembled and disassembled easily,” he said, which is exactly what Harbourfront plans on doing.

During the winter months, the synthetic ice rink, called the Natrel Kinder rink, will be located just north of the original Natrel rink and will have a tent and sides so as to make skating during inclement weather possible.

“The location may change come the spring, but for the winter. This is where it will stay.”

Melo said that while they haven’t figured out all the details yet, they hope that the facility will be used for year-round programs, whether they are lessons or practices.

"It’s an addition that can help in many areas,” he said, hoping that a product like this will be a solution to the problems that the city of Toronto is currently facing with rink time for girls.