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83°

Mostly Cloudy

by Prince Of Petworth — November 19, 2012 at 2:00 pm 6 Comments

Photo by PoPville flickr user caroline.angelo

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Photo by PoPville flickr user jennverr

Mike

Rave: The new ice rink at Canal Park has to be one of the most awesome layouts I’ve ever skated on.

Rant: The exposed islands at both ends of the rink are great architectural featues but huge safety hazards. They are set up with several inch high curbs surrounding them, but no railing! There needs to be a railing on the boards of both islands on the rinks. Someone is going to hit one of those islands at speed,fall into it, and crack their head on the metal and concrete features inside the island. Also, the rink is sloped downward going south, meaning people pick up even more speed in this direction, posing even more of a risk as you approach the southern island. The rink management need to spend a couple thousand on railings to prevent injury, disability, and medical expenses that will occur from this hazard.
- Anonymous
  
  I also think they need to get rid of the benches on the northern island. The obvious thing for people to do is sit on them when they want a respite from skating, but then their feet create a trip hazard for people skating by (and it’s a tight curve to begin with). Occasionally the staff would tell people to not sit on the benches, but people kept doing it because it wasn’t clear that you’re not supposed to. There should at least be a “no sitting” sign.
  - Anonymous
    
    I’m also wondering if their system for keeping track of who’s paid is going to work. The wristbands are not visible when everyone’s wearing coats and gloves, and I think it would be very easy for someone with their own skates to sneak in. On that note, it would be easy to walk out with the rental skates because no one’s keeping tabs on whether you returned them.
    
    Otherwise the skating rink is fantastic! And I was actually impressed with how few collisions there were, given how many people were skating on Friday and Saturday.
    - Mike
      
      Agreed with you on these – the turns around the islands are total bottlenecks/collision points.
      
      Another issue is that because of the slope on the rink, they really shouldn’t alternate the direction into the clockwise direction. You get people going downhill and southbound on the entrance/exit east side of the rink, which means guaranteed collisions with those entering and exiting…
      
      The bench issue could be solved with a standard height railing, which is really what is needed to surround the islands. If someone goes over the curb on the northern island, their head is going into one of the concrete corners of those benches…
      - Anonymous
        
        I think the benches are wood, not concrete, but I agree otherwise. I’m glad to see I’m not the only one that thinks about this stuff!
Andrew

Railings for those islands are on the way in the next couple weeks, and they will cut out the ability to sit on those benches.

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