East End Toronto ice-skating park to be ready in time for winter

In two months, construction will come to an end and children in Toronto’s Greenwood Avenue and Cosburn Street neighbourhood will celebrate winter at a new outdoor hockey rink and skating pad.

Dieppe Park will make it possible for kids and parents to have a late night skate in their neighbourhood.

Instead of travelling to downtown to go to Nathan Phillips Square or Harbourfront Centre, east end skaters have a new state of the art facility in their own backyard.

[googlemap src=”https://maps.google.ca/maps?q=Dieppe+Park,+Toronto,+ON&hl=en&ll=43.691615,-79.334915&spn=0.009992,0.019183&sll=43.656877,-79.32085&sspn=0.63985,1.227722&oq=diepp&hq=Dieppe+Park,+Toronto,+ON&t=m&z=16″]

Dieppe Park in Toronto’s east end.

At a cost of $2.4 million, the renovation of Dieppe Park’s older ice facilities included ripping out the concrete slabs and removal of the old refrigeration equipment. The old building also got a much needed face lift.

The construction site may look messy, but work is being done at a fast pace.

According to Matthew Pellegrino, a worker for Frank Pellegrino General Contracting, the project is more than halfway complete. Pellegrino and the other contractors have been working on the new hockey rink and skating pad since late May.

“So far, I’d say maybe 15 trades in and out, but in total probably around 20 because we still have to get the landscapers and pavers,” Pellegrino said.

Currently Cimco Refrigeration is laying out and testing coolant pipes for the skating pads. According to Pellegrino, technician inject nitrogen into the maze of pipes to determine if there are any leaks.

Once this phase is complete, pavers and landscapers will take over and finish up the job for the opening in the first week of December.

Councillor Mary Fragedakis, Ward 29, said city staff “hope to continue lending out skates and helmets free of charge, but there will be limited availability.”

About this article

By: Rajesh Sammy
Posted: Oct 12 2013 11:29 am
Edition:
Filed under: Arts & Life News