AMESBURY — Pines Park will soon have a permanent ice rink, and its location is raising concerns and protests from disc golfers who use the course at that spot each day.
The Parks and Recreation Commission approved a proposal late yesterday afternoon that will allow Carriage Museum members to build a 100-foot-by-80-foot permanent outdoor ice rink in the same spot a rink existed years ago, in the Town Park off Highland Street. The Public Works Department would provide the water and plow the rink when necessary. The Carriage Museum gave a $500 donation toward the project.
The newly formed Amesbury Ice Skating Association will be the group in charge of making the rules and regulations, working along with the Parks and Recreation Commission.
The location for the rink is right in the middle of the popular Amesbury Pines Disc Golf Course — an 18-hole course that began in town 12 years ago and draws hundreds of disc golfers to town each week, its founder Dan Ouellet said yesterday.
The disc golf program, which is free of charge and open to all ages, is already popular and getting even more attention as time goes on, he said. Disc golfers come out to play every day, all year round, even shoveling out the space in the snow. And it's used by Amesbury High School students.
"There's a whole lot of people," he said. "Everybody loves Amesbury's course. You'd be surprised how many people play the course all the time. It's such a big sport."
Ninety people participate in the annual tournament at the park each year.
Ouellet, 35, an Amesbury native, said he supports having an outdoor rink in town but just not right in the middle of his course. Building the rink would mean losing three holes, and it would be impossible for golfers to play the course.
"It's impossible to have the course and to have three holes missing in the middle of it," Ouellet said.
Ouellet said he has been in talks with rink booster Richard Gale about possible options for the rink and the course, including having the Carriage Museum pay for new sleeves for the baskets for disc golf and footings to change the layout of the course.
"We came up with some decent ideas, not solutions, but steps (toward a solution)," Ouellet said. "It's not a closed-door thing."
Even with the rink's approval, Ouellet still questioned why the rink couldn't be built in the same location Gale and the Carriage Museum built a temporary ice rink last year, near the skateboard area at the park.
Ouellet is a member of the Parks and Recreation Commission but recused himself from the discussion and vote on the rink since it is a conflict of interest.
Building a rink in the area near the golf course was denied last year due to safety concerns, Ouellet said. The lighting in that area would need to be updated, he said.
"It's a mix for disaster," he said, questioning how skaters and disc golfers would be able to share the space safely. "It's a major safety hazard."
The old rink had lighting and boards, Ouellet said. "It was a working hockey rink," he said.
Pines Park is town-owned, but Discs Over Amesbury provides the baskets. Ouellet, a turf specialist for a landscaping company says his Discs Over Amesbury program is his recreational hobby — something he does for fun and to give back to the town. It was because of the program that he first wanted to join the Parks and Recreation Commission, he said.
If it weren't for the disc golf course he started with two friends in 1996, Ouellet says it's likely he would have moved from town but opted to stay because of his program.
"This has been here for 12 years," Ouellet said.
Ouellet said he supports a skating rink in Amesbury, but urged the Carriage Museum members to consider other locations in town — such as Woodsom Farm or another area of the park.
"I want the skating rink. I really do. I think it's a great idea," Ouellet said. "I just want it somewhere else. This space is being utilized. I'd hate to see someone get hurt."
With the approval by the town in place, Gale hopes to start working on the rink this week in plenty of time to have it in place for this winter.
The rink will allow members of the community to socialize and exercise, Gale said.
"It's just a great thing for the families to be doing," Gale said. "We need to get this started again. Why they shut it down (originally) I don't know."
Gale said the group, The Amesbury Ice Skating Association, will be raising funds to get lighting in place so skaters can use the rink at night.
"We are looking forward to this project for the Amesbury community," recreation director Kathy Crowley said in a message yesterday.
