The Minneapolis Parks and Recreation Board (MPRB) began flooding the rink at Windom Park, 2251 Hayes Street NE, Nov. 30. Windom is one of two Northeast parks MPRB plans to have rinks available for broomball, hockey and skating this winter; the other one is Logan Park, 690 13th Avenue NE. Van Cleve Park, 901 15th Avenue SE, which is also in the Northeast service area, will also have rinks. Much depends on the weather.
“We hope to open rinks in time for Winter Break, but there’s a slim chance of that happening with the sustained stretch of warm weather so far,” said Ben Johnson, MPRB Communications and Marketing specialist. “It takes a minimum of ten consecutive days of below freezing temperatures during the day and night to properly establish ice.”
Unlike last year, warming rooms will be open this winter. Hours are Monday-Friday, 5-9 p.m.; Saturdays and school release days; 12-9 p.m. and Sundays 1-5 p.m. Logan and Van Cleve will have timed lights on until 9 p.m. Sundays. Van Cleve will be open 12-4 p.m. Dec. 24 and 31, and 12-9 p.m. Jan. 1. All other Northeast warming rooms will be closed on those dates. All warming rooms will be closed on Dec. 25, and ice will not be maintained.
A call to the public works department in Columbia Heights revealed that the city is waiting for consistently cold weather before flooding can begin at Ostrander (1500 40th Avenue NE) and McKenna (4757 7th Street NE) Parks. Last year, a small rink was created for the first time at Huset Park, 3965 Jefferson Street NE; Street and Park Superintendent David Cullen said it will be built again.
St. Anthony is also waiting for colder weather. Jeremy Gumke, public works director, said, “We need three to four inches of frost in the ground before we can flood. We had no rain this summer, no snow yet, and it’s 50 degrees. It’s insane.” He said ice will be made at Emerald (3925 MacAlaster Drive), Central (3503 Silver Lake Road) and Silver Point (2825 Rozelle Road) Parks. “We look forward to reopening our warming houses this year.”
According to the MPRB website, they build a base by saturating the field with water, adding moisture to the ground to help establish the first layer of ice. When temperatures are right, they use sprinklers and fire hoses to flood the fields one inch at a time, twice daily, to build up the ice. Anything more or less than one inch of water at a time will create air pockets, and prevent smooth, solid ice from forming. The ideal temperature for this process is between zero and ten degrees. If it is too cold (-10 degrees or lower), the ice freezes too quickly and becomes brittle.
No two rinks are alike; the amount of water to build the foundation varies based on field conditions. A worker at Windom estimated it would take 20,000-50,000 gallons of water to create the three rinks there.
Below: A Minneapolis Parks and Recreation worker began flooding the field at Windom Park on Tuesday, Nov. 30. (Photo by Cynthia Sowden)
