Town Needs Better Ice-Skating Rinks – The Warwick Valley Dispatch

Editor,

I write to you on behalf of all the hockey players, figure skaters, and ice-skating enthusiasts in Warwick to get the word to the town to please take better care of the ice-skating rinks that they have built for the people of Warwick to use.

I was born and raised in this amazing town and one of my greatest memories was ice skating for the first time in my life at Stanley-Deming basketball court when I was seven years old where the town used to flood and actually take care of the ice. After that first skate I was addicted to the game of hockey. Now fast forward 25 years and the town no longer floods the basketball courts and probably hasn’t done so since. I have played hockey ever since in many places and I always think back to that first skate and hoping that other kids from Warwick could experience the same thing I did. Today I still feel like I’m seven when I drive by that basketball court peeking down through the car window hoping someday to see it flooded with a fresh sheet of ice.

Unfortunately, my love for the sport does not always translate to others as it is not a mainstream sport that is easily accessible. Well, I write this letter in hopes to change that and give the sport some momentum by asking the town to provide better access to those looking to get out and skate. From what I have seen, the town has built one ice rink at the Pine Island Park. Unfortunately, I would not call this a rink whatsoever. First of all, it was very poorly planned and built. There is too much water, the surface was not made level, it’s not taken care of or looked after, and it doesn’t seem to have access to water for quick and easy resurfacing.

The next attempt the town did was to build a roller hockey rink out at the Town Park Sports Complex. From my knowledge the hockey rink boards were donated to the town but whoever the town had pave the surface, did not level the playing surface so if flooded, all the water goes to one side. If this was done correctly, we would have another perfect option to flood.

I would like to credit the Village of Florida for providing a very nice surface at the State Trooper Barracks. It has lights, benches, and seems to be well maintained.

I would like to propose the town stop wasting their money on rinks that are unusable and not taken care of to use the covered structure at Veterans Memorial Park in the Village of Warwick. It has a water spicket and it is covered so the snow does not affect the ice during the winter. This structure is also never used from being a resident of this town for so long.

I hope this message finds you well and can gain some traction not only for me to be able to get outside in the winter more but to grow the great sports of hockey and figure skating in this town that many people love to call home.

RYAN DURIEUX