Outdoor skating rink to be installed Wednesday at Stotzky Park
Materials for an outdoor skating rink will be installed in Stotzky Park in Riverhead tomorrow afternoon, but the warmer than average temperatures mean it could be at least a week until the rink is functional.
Water is poured over the new rink, which is essentially PVC piping and a liner placed over the existing roller rink, and it freezes naturally.
“We’ll put the water in and we’ll wait,” said town recreation department superintendent Ray Coyne.
The $5,000 allotted for the project is funded through fees paid by developers and set aside for capital recreation projects, at no additional cost to taxpayers. The project total came in under budget at $4,495, according to Mr. Coyne.
The winter rink, which will only freeze naturally, will be used mainly for pickup games of hockey, town officials have said.
Official hours have not been set and Mr. Coyne said as of now, there will be no fee to use the facility. He said, however, the town is looking to purchase ice skates from Modell’s and will rent the skates to the public.
“We’ll see what the demand is, which I think will be large,” he said.
Meanwhile, Riverhead is awaiting architectural plans for a year-round synthethic rink downtown. The project, which has secured a $99,000 county grant, will be built sometime in 2012, said downtown Business Improvement District president Ray Pickersgill.
The rink is proposed to be built in the downtown parking lot, which runs along the Peconic River, behind the Riverhead Grill.
