Cordery Electrical Contracting Inc. is preparing to open its popular 75-by-150-foot ice rink to the public again this winter.
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic putting a halt to community hockey and indoor skating programs last year, Cordery Electrical Contracting Inc. owner, Richard Cordery, decided to go all out, building one of the most extravagant outdoor rinks in Orillia.
He's doing it again this year. The rink, at 4086 Fairgrounds Road, is equipped with two nets, a Zamboni that holds 300 gallons of water, and a skate shack where people are welcome to lace up their skates by a warm fire. There are also lights so the rink can be used after dark.
Last year, user groups booked time slots every evening during the week and all day on weekends.
“While it was a lot of work, it was fun last year. A lot of the people who came last year have already been in contact with me throughout the fall and have said they want to come out here again,” Cordery said.
“I think we are going to start seeing things getting shut down again because of COVID, so I’ll open it up again. If the kids have nowhere else to go, they can come here to skate.”
Cordery says for him, the payoff is seeing children smile and have fun during the long winter months amid an ongoing pandemic.
“The adults always thank me for doing this, but the best part is watching the younger kids play around; they are a hoot,” he said.
“We had some really good players out here last year; they are fun to watch. And my dog Cub enjoys it, too.”
Cordery has been working on the rink for a couple of months now, and he will spend most of his winter days keeping up with all the maintenance involved.
“The rink is on a depression, so it fills up with water in the fall. As soon as we start getting snow, I start pumping water off of it regularly because you have to get the ice and cold down to the dirt or else we just won’t end up with ice,” he said.
Once there is enough ice and snow, Cordery starts packing it down with his tractor until temperatures consistently dip well below freezing. It is then time to flood it.
“It does freeze a little bit every night, even if it does get a little warmer during the day. So, if I can keep it packed down and we can get some cooler temperatures, it will turn into a rink really quick,” he said.
Cordery takes pride in his rink being one of the cleanest and smoothest outdoor rinks in town.
“It’s the time we put into it, but our 'poor man' Zamboni also really helps,” he said.
“We have a 300-gallon tank of water on a trailer that gets pulled behind a tractor, and it spits out through a spreader bar with fine holes drilled in it, and then there is a towel that gets dragged over it. I do hundreds of those before anybody comes skating here.”
Last year, Cordery borrowed a water trailer from Michael Scott Landscaping. He was filling it up at a nearby river which filled the Zamboni three times over. When Cordery isn’t flooding the rink, he’s building fires inside and around the skate shack for players and spectators.
“We have to have somewhere warm for people to put on their skates, it’s no fun doing that in your car,” he said.
“If you get cold while skating or while watching you can go inside and get all warmed up.”
Cordery says the pandemic and weather will impact the rink's availability. There is no cost to use the rink and bookings are expected to become available by mid-January. You can book your time slot by calling 705-326-2179.
