Ambitious plans to get an outdoor community ice rink up and running in Redmond’s Centennial Plaza this winter were scrapped earlier this week. According to a press release from the city of Redmond, the city’s plans hit a roadblock when arrangements to bring a compressor over from Portland fell through recently. Rather than keep searching around the city has decided to temporarily shelve the project until next year, allowing the city to complete some of the accompanying site work over the summer when it will be more cost effective. Redmond’s ice sheet would have been the third seasonal skating rink in Central Oregon and the first in Redmond (The other rinks are located at Seventh Mountain Resort and Sunriver). It was pitched as a desirable and relatively inexpensive winter amenity to the city’s downtown area and city leaders had hoped to have it up and running before the end of the year.
“The Council, Staff and I were really hoping that we could provide the residents of Redmond with an ice skating experience for the rest of the winter. Unfortunately, due to circumstances we cannot overcome, we cannot make it happen this year,” Mayor George Endicott, said in the press release.
The city now hopes to have the rink up and running after next Thanksgiving for a three-month season. (EF)
