Whether it's skating, hockey, or even ice fishing, West River's Edge has a lot of winter activities coming.
The popular West River's Edge skating loop is returning for a third winter. The loop is expected to be finished by Christmas once the ice is thick enough for city workers to move equipment on. With the ice still thin, it's recommended that residents don't try skating on the pond until after the work is complete.
"We see lots of families there over the weekend, and even during the weekdays," said Jenelle Hart, parks services manager for the City of Fort Saskatchewan. "There's lots of picnic tables and places for families to gather, set their things, and enjoy a skate."
The skating loop consists of ice paths made into the pond at West River's Edge. Late last year, city council approved the 2022 Budget, which included extra funding for the loop.
Some new additions include more hockey areas in the loop itself to accommodate for winter sports, making sure to leave plenty of space for ice fishing enthusiasts as well.
"People can't wait to have it come back. We're finding a lot of people are going down there because it's not in one of the boarded rinks. People want to go for a long skate, and some of our snowbank rinks aren't big enough for that," Hart said. "There's lots of kids learning how to skate down there, because they have the space to do that."
"Skating on natural frozen water is different than skating on something that's been constructed, so the enjoyment of skating is also a lot different."
The Budget also included installing an ice slide at the toboggan hill next to the skating loop. There's even a second ice slide being built at the Rotary Amphitheatre downtown.