The Jacob Leicht Memorial Outdoor Rink and Courts have been a very popular spot in Humboldt this summer.
Nestled on the south end of Centennial Park, near the Uniplex and ball diamonds, the facility includes courts for basketball, tennis and pickleball that can be used during the non-winter months.
Director of Community and Leisure Services Mike Ulriksen says after the courts opened in May, there have been too many days where the courts were vacant.
“The amount of usage of that space, basically from the day we open it up and throughout the summer, I don't know that there's been more than a handful of times where I've driven by there and there haven't been numerous people out there.”
The courts are open for anyone to use at any given time and Ulriksen feels it well suited for the change of how people participate in recreational activities.
“As opposed to it being very organized and being very structured play, what we're finding is residents just want to be able to do things kind of on their own time with those that they want to do recreation with.”
He added, “I think that's why a facility like this lends itself well to getting people up and being active, because you can grab a basketball and a buddy and you can go shoot hoops anytime you want. You can grab your pickleball equipment and you can have a big game, as big as you want or as small as you want.”
Ulriksen says whether it’s playground upgrades, the trails around town and other green spaces, there is a demand in the community for recreational opportunities that are not in a structured format.
With the courts situated by the washroom and concession building in Centennial Park, Ulriksen says some brainstorming has already occurred to see if it’s possible to host future events in the community with the outdoor courts being a part of it.
“This court is going to be phenomenal in that, both on the pickleball side, the ability to host small outdoor basketball tournaments with the two courts, tennis being the same way. We definitely have a little more flexibility in what we can do.”
He noted they’re exploring the possibility of bringing in some bigger events as well including possibly the Saskatchewan Summer Games, more ball tournaments or just more activities to attract visitors to Humboldt.
While it’s been a successful first year for the outdoor courts, Ulriksen hopes to keep the facility open for another month but adds that weather will be the biggest factor in that decision.
“With the desire and the plan to transition to an outdoor rink space this fall, we're obviously going to have a little bit of prep work that we have to do on the space and ideally have that done and in place before the snow falls so that we're not trying to do that with snow on the ground already on the space.”
Ulriksen says at this point, it looks like around the Thanksgiving weekend, but those plans are fluid.
When the time comes to turn the courts into an outdoor rink, he says it will take a little bit of time, but once again, winter will be the biggest factor.
“It is going to be our first year with this facility in its current state to make sure that we get it set up and get this ice in there and get it done properly.”
He continued, “it'll be anywhere between a couple weeks and three or four weeks, probably at the longest.”