Yup this sounds like a great idea.

Build it and they will come. Especially when it's free.

That's one of the big problems with downtown. People aren't there other than to do some errands like get your licence renewed or stop in to get a couple things at the Northern.

We need to get the people back downtown to hang out there. If people are there then the commercial businesses will start making money and other businesses will start up as well.

Of course while I'm saying this maybe we could bulldoze a few of the pawn shops and other dumpy buildings to built this ice rink. Wow, did I say that..........haha.

The cost of the oval in Halifax is far to inexpensive for the city of PG to consider. Unless the facilities have a 8 figure price tag the whole concept gets thrown in file 13.

And free skating. Never in PG. How would we justify not hiring 6 or 8 more people to collect coin at the gate and of course PG would certainly have to have paid parking.

A great idea Halifax had with only a cost of only $200,000.00 a year to the city. Far less than the PG's contribution to the Northern Sports Center at UNBC.

In PG, never, it just makes far to much sense.

so what happens when the ice melts?

When the ice melts, we use it for roller skating. The whole concept makes way too much sense for PG to use.

Great idea Ben... Summer uses... Car show, Farmers market, Roller skating, Tennis court, Running track, Outdoor concert, Political soap box, Food fair. Start thinking outside the box folks.

Hope the Political Geru's at city hall read this blog and get their head out of their a55.

The little ice rink in Civic Plaza just south of Two Rivers Gallery is a wonderful well used facility. It would be a great idea to make it ten times as big.

Wrong again, Meisey! Halifax already had a downtown that put PG to shame for decades now. Halifax's downtown is anchored by a commercial waterfront - something I said for years we should have. Halifax does have it though - heavy industry, military, historic buildings, commercial and residential all together in way that "works" and is still beautiful. But its the waterfront that does it. And they dont even have nice water. An ice oval is a only a piece of the puzzle.

Ice oval? How about an ice age - where a large glacier sweeps out the whole downtown core, then retreats leaving a level, scoured surface to build upon.

There is no way the city should spend that kind of money or any money for that part, on an ice oval. The northern sports centre is one example. It is vastly underused.
Prince George demographically cannot support such a venture. Halifax has a population of around 375,000 and is the economic hub of the maritimes. PG is anything but.

Imorge. I agree with you that to compare Halifax to PG is a bit off, and that our population size isn't the same, and that the ice oval idea isn't the answer. However, I think you're incorrect on saying the Northern Sports Center is vastly underused.

I think it definitely was for the first couple of years. And although I don't have the actual stats to back up my statement, I'd be willing to bet that it's now making money and has a pretty good track record. I use it here and there as my GF has a pass there, and it's almost always packed when I'm up there. Just sayin'.....I'd like to see the latest figures though. Who knows.

What a great idea! Did you forward this to city council? All of them? I'm tired of being financially raped when there are better options out there. We are going broke and money is being wasted. I love this idea.

"The little ice rink in Civic Plaza just south of Two Rivers Gallery is a wonderful well used facility."

Come on Peter. I respect you very much. But you have to be joking!!

Yes, it is a wonderful LITTLE ice rink in what is a wonderful part of this city.

BUT, the rink and the rest of the plaza is totally underutilized. It can be fixed, and I frankly thought that someone would be fixing that area with the provincial money available for the provincial "piazza" project. Instead they "improved" the City Hall square and left PG with nothing better for its "heart of the City".

I think we need to learn how to focus on doing one thing right before moving to the next project.

“The City of Halifax opted to build an ice oval in the DOWNTOWN core.”

If the Commons, where TEMPORARY oval has been built is downtown, then our Carrie Jane Grey park is downtown as well because that is about the distance the Common is from downtown.

Here is a photo of the rink taken from one of the high rise apartments that surround several sides of the commons. There are no downtown shops, restaurants, coffee shops, nightclubs, etc. anywhere near the Commons. And the famous Halifax harbourfront developments are even further away. Notice that unlike our Carrie Jane Grey Park, the Commons is surrounded by high rise apartment buildings. We, on the other hand, have two predominately single family detached housing subdivisions surrounding our “Commons”. The story of PG versus Halifax in a nutshell.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/51748447@N03/5412272582/in/photostream

There is more commons on the right side of the road which divides it into two parts. That part has more amenities, many of which are fixed buildings. Citadel Hill, with its Fort George, is about the same area and stands in the way between the commons and the Central Business District or downtown Halifax. The oval is in the southeast corner of the Commons. The most direct walking distance from the part of the oval closest to the corners of Barrington and Sackville, which I would say are similar to our Third and Victoria is about 1.2 km.

So, downtown? Not by Prince George walking distance standards. And certainly not by the standards of our DBIA group.

Is it a permanent track? No way. Is it popular? Sure. It is the kind of excitement that the Winter Games can bring to a community. Have they ever had an ice oval like that? Does not sound like it.
Here is the official games oval site http://www.halifax.ca/canadagamesoval

Notice it is to be removed and the softball fields (they have around 10 in the commons) are to be put back. The oval opened on December 20, 2010. It is likely that day that there were 6,000 people there. I am not sure whether we can muster that many here for such an event. The population scale of Halifax and PG are considerably different. If we get 2,000 gathered for opening day of a 2015 Games venue, we will be doing relatively as well.
Here is an editorial from the local paper suggesting that the oval be kept rather than removed. It gives some good background. Reading the comments provides some additional background. Notice some are also concerned about Halifax’s debt load.
http://www.thecoast.ca/halifax/keep-the-common-skating-oval/Content?oid=2103632

The budget for the skating oval was $1.7 million. Yes, it is a far cry from a $10million facility. But that is comparing apples to oranges and we are good at doing that, aren’t we?

Here is the history of the Commons and some of the modern day events such as Pope John Paul, the Rolling Stones, Paul McCartney, KISS which have gathered up to 50,000 and 80,000 people in the space.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Halifax_Common

Of course this whole article begs the question of where is our oval going to be and where all the other venues going to be. It would be nice to get some info that is consolidated in one comprehensive plan.

Given the economics for a temporary facility, it seems we will end up having to spend that for an oval except that we could use it for a permanent facility. In fact, if there are three refrigeration unit which belong to the Canada Games people, we might be able to buy them for our games at a reduced cost. Seems stupid to spend $1.7+ million. However, we may not be able to afford to operate it.

So, while we are on the topic of Halifax and spending $2 million for an ice oval with no building facility in the downtown and trying to compare it to the money we might spend on a PAC, as Ben suggests, we will have to pick two blocks downtown running east to west to provide the space required for an ice oval, close the street between them and build an oval and decide how to use the space during the other 8 to 9 months of the year.

So, comparing the needs of the art community and the sport community seems to be one of the issues here. Which one can better populate the centre of our city?

Here is a blurb about the arts in Halifax as a bit of a primer.

[ur]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Culture_of_the_Halifax_Regional_Municipality[/url]

Some words from that link for those who do not follow links.

"HRM is home to a vibrant arts & culture community that enjoys considerable support and participation from the general population. As the largest community and the administrative centre of the Atlantic region since its founding of the former city of Halifax in 1749, Halifax has long-standing tradition of being a cultural generator. While Provincial arts & culture policies have tended to distribute investment and support of the arts throughout the province, sometimes to the detriment of more populous Halifax, cultural production in HRM is increasingly being recognized for its economic benefits, as well as its purely cultural aspects."

And, of course in this temperance tending town of ours, these words will likely not be liked by many, especially those who pretend to be elitists.

"HRM is reputed to have one of the highest number of bars per capita of any Canadian city...... Many bars have live music every night of the week and artists performing almost any style of music can be found. Halifax's relatively late last call (between three and four in the morning) means that many party-goers are out into the wee hours of the day."

Tsk, tsk ..... and that under an article on "culture". At least the author understands the meaning of the word a bit better than some people around here.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Culture_of_the_Halifax_Regional_Municipality

Want to fix downtown. Steal Halifax's idea?

Their real idea to fix downtown is a new convention centre built with as much provincial, federal and private money as possible.

$159 million for the convention part of the centre with $2.9 million annual operating costs.

Total project with new office towers and hotel is expected to be close to half a billion $.

And Halifax is looking for $14million to break even on their municipal budget.

So goes the story of the municipal governments across the country trying to do the only thing they can to get money into the coffers, expand the population and property base. In other words, hooked on growth.

The feds really do not care whether people and companies reside in Halifax or Winnipeg. They collect taxes from an ever increasing population. Provinces are somewhere in between, although most have an increasing population base.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/nova-scotia/story/2010/10/13/ns-convention-centre-province.html