The Robson Square ice rink is back in business.
The rink reopened yesterday to families and groups of young skaters, who laced up for a round at downtown Vancouver’s only outdoor rink.
“We need more family places like this,” said Zaheed Bakave, a Yaletown resident who brought her niece and four children to the rink for the opening. “I think it would add a lot of dimension to downtown.”
Vancouver Olympic Organizing Committee president John Furlong said public spaces are crucial to a city’s livability.
“This is what turns a city from a place to reside in to a place to live in,” Furlong said.
Vancouver Coun. Suzanne Anton has proposed a motion to create a public square — like those found in many European cities — between the art gallery and the Law Courts.
Furlong says he’s in favour of that motion and that he believes Robson Square is already well on its way to becoming a gathering point.
“I think it would be a very easy place to build on,” Furlong said at the rink opening.
“This area here is where people come to when they go to downtown Vancouver.”
