Kamloops skaters will soon have an easier time getting onto the ice at the Riverside Park outdoor skating loop, with skate rentals launching this week as part of a pilot project.
The City of Kamloops has been working with Okanagan Affordable Rentals over the past few weeks to bring rental services to the popular loop, responding to strong community demand.
“This is a pilot project that we’re going to just see how the community responds to the rentals,” said Sherri Holmes, the city’s sport, recreation and wellness manager. “We heard very loud and clear that they were hoping to have some form of rental down there, so we acted very quickly.”
Holmes says the temporary arrangement will help the city gather feedback before moving toward a more permanent solution next season.
“We’re going to take this information and the feedback that we get from community and from our mobile rental team, and then we’re going to put an expression of interest for next season so that we can look for a more permanent vendor,” she said.
The rental option comes as the skating loop continues to see heavy use since opening earlier this winter. Holmes noted the city had planned to introduce rentals in the future but moved up the timeline after hearing from residents.
“We had did hear from several community members who were asking if we would have rentals available,” she said. “We anticipated we had plans of doing it for next year, but this opportunity came up, so we thought, let’s do it now.”
According to Holmes, local sporting goods businesses have also been kept busy by the popularity of the loop.
“We did communicate with our local vendors here, and they’ve been very busy with skate rentals and skate sales as well as skate sharpening, and it seemed like none of them had capacity at this short notice,” she said.
Okanagan Affordable Rentals is expected to operate starting Feb. 4 and remain at the loop from Wednesday-Sunday for the remainder of the season, weather permitting.
“As long as we’re open, they’re going to carry on through the end of the season,” Holmes said. “We expect that we’ll go till about mid-March this year.”
Concerns about warmer-than-normal temperatures this week are not expected to impact operations.
“Our operations team have assured me that we’ll be okay during this stint of warmer weather,” Holmes said. “Where we need to get concerned is when we’re consistently over 8 to 10 degrees for extended periods of time in the daytime and at night. So we don’t anticipate any impacts or closures of the skating loop during this little period here.”
Holmes says the city is encouraged by how well the loop has been received so far.
“We’re just very happy that people have responded so positively.”
For the most up-to-date rental hours and availability, residents are encouraged to check Okanagan Affordable Rentals’ website or social media pages.
