With winter fast approaching, outdoor rinks are being planned in backyards, while indoor ice time remains a hot commodity.

At last night’s meeting of the Weyburn City Council, an outdoor rink was approved at a residence in the northeast end of Weyburn, at Gordon Miles Place park.

“This will be the third year that Ryan Birnie will be having an outdoor rink here in Weyburn,” said City Manager Matthew Warren. “It’s fantastic for him to do that.”

In fact, in addition to one other outdoor rink at Jubilee Park, which is run by the City of Weyburn, the only other outdoor rinks are in various backyards, and they are usually kept private.

This one, however, is open to public use.

“It’s great for us to have as many opportunities as we can for people to participate in different kinds of sports activities,” Warren said.

“He volunteers a lot of time for that, it’s a really good space for that as well,” he shared. “So he goes out there, and he puts the rink in, he has his own Zamboni that cleans off the ice, and there's a lot of usage in that space. So, for us, we’re glad to provide him that space again this year.”

Using the rink, however, is still at your own risk.

“It’s all on the owner, so everything’s on Ryan, for him to provide for that. It’s his project,” he clarified. “We’ve had no issues with him that way.”

For those who need more ice time, though, it’s the chill place to be.

“It’s been a great opportunity,” said Warren. “For us, to get people out to be participating in any kind of sporting activity is great.”

For the sake of older skaters being able to have ice time without concerns for the safety of younger skaters being on the ice at the same time, councilors voted to extend the hours of operation to 10:00 p.m. Zamboni clearing would be concluded by 10:30 p.m.

The rink will again be located at the east end of Gordon Miles Place, between 1842 Gordon Miles Place and 1846 Gordon Miles Place in the City of Weyburn.

Click HERE for more photos of last year's rink and an interview with Ryan Birnie.

Ryan Birnie at his outdoor rink last year (photo by James Brackpool).