SUDBURY -- Since Dec. 1, volunteer Dean Dixon has been spending nearly every day at Kivi Park preparing Nina’s Way, an outdoor skating trail, for use this winter.
Dixon said the trail gets flooded with about 40,000 litres per day, until four to six solid inches of ice is made.
“I’m here about 40 to 50 hours a week once we get started,” he said. “Once the ice is made, we don’t have to spend as much time here, depending on the snowfall.”
It’s no easy task, especially with no snow on the ground to act as a base layer for the trail.
“We have to freeze the ground, so we pour ice on the ground with the water truck," Dixon said. "We put about three truckloads of water per day, until we build ice.”
Pioneer Construction donated the water truck, which holds around 14,000 litres of water. The truck makes several trips back and forth per day to fill up with water and continue flooding.
“Nina’s Way is certainly a community effort as far as the conception of it and the planning of it,” said Kerry Lamarche, Kivi Park’s executive director. “In reality, it’s Dean's baby.”
“He does everything from flooding it, blowing off all the dirt, he’s scraping it in the morning. So if you come in the wintertime he’s here at 9:30 at night and again at six in the morning, making sure that it’s perfect.”
Kivi Park staff said the hope is to have the trail ready for skaters come New Year's Day, depending on the weather.
If temperatures stay cold enough, their plan is to have the trail open until the end of March.
