AMESBURY — Thanks to the efforts of four local volunteers who braved cold days and nights for a week, folks hoping to skate some figure eights can once again do so safely at Town Park near Amesbury High’s exit onto Highland Street.
“I think it’s going to be really busy out there today. It’ll be fun to see them all skating having fun,” volunteer Dan Ouellet said, on Wednesday.
Ouellet worked with fellow volunteers Sal Begis, Shawn Pappas, and Matt Frye this fall raking and cleaning the area around the rink in preparation for freezing temperatures to come.
“We started flooding, I think, last week. We’ve been doing this every day for the last week, just squeezing them in when we can,” Begis said.
Begis originally had the idea for the return of the rink, having heard about it when he first moved to the city 10 years ago and wanting to bring it back. His first step was reaching out to Ouellet.
“Dan is so involved in the community, it was really easy for him to make a few phone calls, get a few local friends to help out in the beginning stages of where we are now,” Begis said.
He said they would spend a couple hours each day on the project.
“I work from home, so it’s a little bit more flexible, so I’ll squeeze it in during quote unquote, my lunch,” Begis said.
Asked about how they built the 60-foot-by-100-foot rink, Begis said the most important thing was for the ground to already be frozen.
“We’ve lucked out with really cold temps early on in the season, so it solidified the ground,” Begis said.
Nature continued to pitch in by forming berms, or tiny little hills, that created a lining for the rink.
“We actually went out and bought, I think 20 sandbags from one area to kind of close it up and they did a great job,” Begis said, adding that after receiving permission from the city, they used a fire house to lay down water sheets of water.
The key, he explained, is to create a very light, icy surface during each flooding and then letting that freeze.
“The trick is to just build in small layers,” Begis said.
Nearby community members have offered to help maintain the rink if needed, according to Begis.
“If Dan can’t do it with me, I could ask my neighbor,” Begis said.
Mayor Kassandra Gove said she was excited to see the return of the rink.
“The long-standing tradition of having a skating rink led by the commitment of volunteers has been interrupted by warmer winters in recent years. A shot of cold weather has given them the opportunity to make it happen this year,” Gove said.
She said she is looking forward to seeing folks out there having fun.
“Thanks to the volunteers for their time, talents, energy, and commitment. I plan on lacing up my skates and getting out there soon,” Gove said.
Ouellet shared it was thrilling to see his group’s work completed.
“I love it. I’m going to love it even more when my son, who’s a freshman, gets to go out because all he wants to do is skate, skate, skate, and so he’s so excited,” Ouellet said.
With his department having recently completed ice rescue training at Tuxbury Pond, Fire Chief Jim Nolan said he was “very happy” to see the volunteers’ work finished.
“The rink at Town Park is a great alternative, a much safer alternative to going out on what could possibly be thin ice. As we know Lake Gardner and Lake Attitash are constantly moving,” Nolan said.
Arriving to check out the rink for the first time himself, Nolan said he was impressed.
“It looks really good — very smooth,” Nolan said.
Matt Petry covers Amesbury and Salisbury for The Daily News of Newburyport. Email him at: mpetry@northofboston.com.