Ice skating season is well underway in the Callahan Park ice rink, where several hundred residents visit each week to skate or play hockey.
In fact, 3,529 people have stepped foot on the ice since the facility opened for the season, said Chip Comilla, Bradford City’s director of parks and public works.
The rink opened opened to the public on Nov. 6, but it opened a little earlier — Oct. 15 — to hockey players with the youth and University of Pittsburgh at Bradford leagues, then it opened to the public on Nov. 6.
“That way they could get extra practices in before their season started,” explained Comilla.
“Our first Tuesday night was pretty big,” he said. “It was over 100 people.”
Then, that first Friday, Nov. 10, a crowd of 258 people made their way through during public skating.
“Our Fridays have been good,” he said.
He indicated the numbers are pretty consistent with past years.
“When ski season opened up, we started to see a little drop, which is normal,” he noted.
Of the 3,529 visits to the rink, 290 visits were by the 96 season pass-holders, 1,350 were by the Bradford Youth Hockey Club, 298 were Pitt-Bradford athletes, 1,285 were students, 76 were adults and 134 were adult hockey players.
Open skate takes place from 6 to 8:30 p.m. Tuesdays, from 6 to 9 p.m. Fridays, from 1 to 4 and 6 to 9 p.m. Saturdays and from 1 to 4 p.m. Sundays.
On the off nights, members of the youth, adult and University of Pittsburgh at Bradford hockey leagues use the facility for practice.
To accommodate extra people who want to skate over the Christmas holiday, the rink will hold extra open skate times.
During the holiday break, open skate will be held every day from 1 to 4 p.m. Dec. 22-30 — except for Christmas day — and there also will be open skate hours from 6 to 9 p.m. Dec. 22, 23, 29 and 30; from 6 to 8:30 p.m. Dec. 26.
First Night Skate — part of the First Night Bradford festivities of New Year’s Eve, will be held from 1 to 5 p.m. Dec. 31.
The rink will be closed on Christmas and New Year’s days.
The Christmas schedule will be posted at the rink, too.
Comilla said there are no updates to the rink this year, but noted the hockey association has a wishlist of things it would like to do, including benches in the locker room.
The rink will remain open “probably until the the 4th of March,” said Comilla, adding they sometimes let the hockey people keep using the facility until the ice melts, which might give them one or two more days to practice.
Local interest in skating usually drops off in February, he noted.
In the meantime, the rink will remain open any time an open skate is scheduled, unless there is a disaster of some kind.
For instance, Comilla said the rink had to close during the 2015 water main break at the University of Pittsburgh at Bradford because there was no water to flush the toilets — which was a safety hazard.
Also, “If it’s a really nasty snow day, I have closed it before,” said Comilla, who noted that winter weather cancellations are rare.
In the days before there was a roof on the rink, people were at the mercy of Mother Nature as to whether the rink would be available for skating.
The cost to skate is $4 for students, $5 for adults and $3 for seniors, and there is an extra $2 to rent skates.
