News

Eighty outdoor rinks to be available in Grodno Oblast this winter

More than 80 outdoor ice skating rinks will be available in Grodno Oblast this winter, BelTA learnt from the physical education, sport and tourism department of the Grodno Oblast Executive Committee. Thirty-eight outdoor ice skating rinks will be made in large and small cities across the region. Twenty-two of them will have skate rentals. There are plans to make 46 ice hockey grounds, of which almost 30 will be lit for night skating. Twenty-one of them will have a skate rental desk too. Fifteen ice skating rinks and ice hockey grounds will be available in Grodno. Most rinks will be opened in traditional locations (near schools in neighborhoods). There will be new locations too, for example, on the square in front of the Philharmonic. The ice rink with lighting and music in Gilibert Central Park was first opened last year. It is open daily, has a skate rental outlet, and meal and heating facilities. Two ice palaces in Grodno and Lida will be open for skating enthusiasts as well. According to the department of physical education, sports and tourism, good ice can be made providing the temperature of seven and more degrees below zero holds at least a week. There will be 42 skiing pistes available this winter (including three in Grodno). The best places to ski are a new ski and roller track in Lida, ski-runs in Novogrudok and Pyshki (Grodno). The oblast executive committee is discussing a possibility of opening a covered ice rink (similar to the one in Pobeditelei Avenue in Minsk). The construction of such facility is much cheaper than the construction of an ice stadium. Ice-cooling equipment will make the rink available for use at the temperature of 20 degrees above zero.