RECREATION – Construction to begin on Riverside Park outdoor skating pond
(Image: City of Kamloops)
Construction on the outdoor skating pond at Riverside Park begins this week.
Intended for community, non-programmed drop-in skating, the skating facility will be free to the public and open annually from December to March. It will support winter event hosting opportunities such as winter festivals, live music, food vendors, seasonal celebrations, park enhancements, and decorations, and will include an opportunity for skate rentals.
During the summer, the unfrozen concrete pad will be available for staging food trucks and other recreational activities. The looped pathway will also improve park accessibility for those with mobility challenges.
Detailed design and site regulatory approvals for the skating facility were carried out in 2024. Urban Appeal Landscaping will start construction in the coming months, including electrical upgrades, shallow utilities, and excavation. The pond is expected to be complete and ready for use in early 2026.
Construction is not expected to impact water park or playground use and will have minimal disruption to green space and general park users, says City Hall.
The project is fully funded by a $7.16 million grant from the Province’s Growing Communities Fund.
Council approved the project in April 2023.
ArmchairMayor.ca 
Another boondoggle. Look at how easy it is for council to spend other peoples’ money.
Oh but it was a grant from the province… As if that isn’t other peoples’ money.
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It actually was a covid grant which every community in the province received based upon each communities population, $15 million was allocated to Kamloops. The grant wasn’t for the “skating pond” but rather for the city to spend on infrastructure project(s) of their choosing.
Interestingly, 2 years earlier the city requested a grant from the province for this particular project, twice and both times they were rejected. This is a frivolous project pushed by admin and foolishly passed by council.
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They spent upwards to $1million laying piping and prep work under the water park specifically for this “skating pond” when they were building the water park 3 yrs ago. Now they’ve decided to relocate the “skating pond” to a different spot making all the $’s spent on the previous prep work worthless.
Next to no one in town is asking for this and no doubt will be another 6th ave white elephant.
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This is a waste, pure and simple. Besides, the “contractors” are too busy elsewhere. Nothing like having multiple projects on the go and dragging all of them indefinitely or cutting many corners to complete them.
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