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Imagine a brand new outdoor ice rink in the heart of downtown Penticton, a stone's throw from the Gyro Park band shell. Then imagine it's absolutely free to use.
Come December, that fantastical vision will become reality when Activate Penticton, a non-profit society formed for the express purpose of devising and building a free-to-use downtown rink, unveils its creation to the world in a soft opening guaranteed to garner big-time attention across the city and the province.
But even at this late stage, all is not yet settled. Activate Penticton, you see, would really prefer if the rink debuted as it was envisioned -- beautifully illuminated, beautifully presented, and with all its amenities and area upgrades complete.
Unfortunately, it can't cover the costs itself. It's funded just about everything to date, but now it needs assistance. And it's asking businesses and the public at large for donations to the cause.
But first, let's back up a bit to see what got us to this point in time. To a time when Activate Penticton wasn't even a thing but its future prez Drew Barnes, a born-and-raised Pentictonite and co-owner of locally-based Parallel 50 Construction, was already pestering people about a rink.
"On one of the first images of the old OCP (Official Community Plan)," said Barnes with a laugh, "they had a skating rink rendering in Gyro Park. And I'd always bug the staff, 'Come on, you have it in your own OCP and now you're doing nothing!'
"And they said they tried once. But it wasn't feasible.
"And then (City of Penticton CAO) Donny van Dyk kept getting bugged by (Penticton Vees owner) Graham Fraser, who'd put up a few hundred thousand toward a rink."
Soon enough, Barnes the setup guy was introduced to Fraser the money guy, and the project got serious. They looked all over town before settling on the current location.
"It had all the services there, and it was next to a park, so we wouldn't be taking away park land," said Barnes. "We'd be adding an amenity to an existing park."
But then COVID hit. And then the price of construction material went vertical. And then more recently they realized the site posed unforeseen challenges.
"It was a challenging dig," said Barnes. "Just being close to the water, we had bring in a lot of structural fill, geogrid.
"It's a very organic soil. Very black. So we exported that and brought in some good structural stuff. I thought it would be a simple slab, but it ended up being a skookum excavation to make sure we don’t get any differential settlement over the 6000 sq ft slab."
Ultimately, the projected budget from two years ago proved woefully insufficient. Though Barnes maintains there's still adequate bucks to complete the rink, he says there's not enough for anything else.
"The money we're currently raising is for nicer lighting, some heating stations, landscaping, more benches and seating areas, food truck seating, maybe a fire pit, and to pave more of the parking lot to the south," he said. "We just want to make it a great place to be."
As October began, Activate Penticton said it needed an extra $400,000 to do the job properly. That's a substantial sum in anyone's books.
But there's been one potentially game-changing development since -- the appearance of an anonymous donor who's committed to doubling every dollar raised in the month of October, up to $200,000. So if 200 grand is ultimately raised this month, the goal of $400,000 would be met.
"It would give us enough money to build everything we want, and a year or two of operating cost," said Barnes, adding only that the nameless donation-doubler "spends a lot of time here, but isn't local."
Beyond the Dec. 15 soft opening, Barnes said residents can look forward to the official opening weekend of Jan. 14 - 16, when the place will be crazy busy with a bunch of cool stuff.
"We've got a 'Save Pond Hockey' event (a federally funded program focusing on climate change), which we're partnering with the BCHL 60th anniversary alumni and exhibition tournament," said Barnes. "That'll be our big grand opening, ribbon cutting, and whatever we want to do."
Events will include a 3-on-3 all-star game, a skills competition, an alumni game, and the appearance of ex-NHLers like Kirk McLean, Jyrki Lumme and Dave Babych.
If all goes smoothly, Barnes also hopes to pull off a "winter festival" sometime before Christmas that would include food trucks and a visit from Santa.
"Yes, we'll allow for certain events where it'll get booked," he said. "But 95% of the time, it'll be free to the public. This wouldn’t be happening if this wasn't going to be free to the public.
"Hopefully we'll see people walking there from Pen High with their skates after school. And we'll see young couples on a skate date, then maybe hitting the breweries afterward."
There may even be an occasional stick and puck session, through such a circumstance would necessitate the installation of protective glass above the boards.
"We might leave the glass up after the Save Pond Hockey event for a week or two and see what happens," said Barnes. "Sticks and pucks just for a couple weeks on, say, Tuesday nights, and then back to public skating."
According to Barnes, the still-unnamed facility, which is two-thirds the size of its regulation NHL counterpart, will likely be open every day from 9 am to 9 pm, weather permitting, December through March.
Exact opening and closing dates are yet to be determined. "We'll see how much it’s being used (late in the season) and how much the sun and wind affects ice melt," added Barnes.
As for the off-season, Activate Penticton is apparently open to suggestions.
"It'll be a nice flat slab in the summer, that’s for sure," he said. "Women's roller derby were looking at it, and some people have talked about outdoor yoga. We'll listen to ideas."
As for future operating costs, Barnes said his organization is exploring "business partnerships."
"Maybe they'll commit to donating $1,000 a year for three years or something along those lines. And we're looking at annual sponsorship dinners or golf tournaments. We're also getting authorized to do 50/50 draws. We have a few ideas."
Activate Penticton has thus far received $40,000 in October donations, including $4,250 from a recent Penticton Vees hockey game. All of that will be doubled by the anonymous benefactor, meaning there's still $320,000 to go to hit the $400,000 target.
"If anyone is thinking about or getting close to donating," said Barnes simply, "there is no better time than October."
To donate, to volunteer or to communicate, head to the Activate Penticton website here.
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