After less than a month, village closes rink in Memorial Park

Vandalism KOs ice skating Warwick — The location was better. The covering would provide some shelter from weather elements not conducive to ice. Yes, it certainly looked like the new location of a village ice rink at Veteran’s Memorial Park had all it needed to provide a winter’s worth of fun to families throughout the town. What no one expected was that vandals would ruin it for everyone. It opened just over a month ago. The Village of Warwick proudly announced the new ice skating rink at the pavilion in Veteran’s Memorial Park would open. After many years of flooding the basketball court at Stanley-Deming Park, this new rink would provide a better surface for skating and a cover overhead to keep the weather from turning the ice into slush. The enthusiasm was short-lived. Just days after a Warwick Advertiser story ran last month with the news of the new rink, vandals hit. They damaged the new rink, leaving gouges in the ice and the new liner. Three holes were made — one was a foot-square. The village Department of Public Works employees patched them. They used material patches to fix the liner and filled the holes in the ice with water. But that wasn’t enough. The damage was too much to repair for any length of time. Other vandalism incidents occurred, but none as bad as the first. “The reality was that patching wouldn’t do it — a new liner is now needed. And by the time it is ordered and received, we’ll already be into March,” said Steve Sisco, the village’s Department of Public Works superintendent, who added his department has patched it “as good as we could. (But) we’re done for the year.” At this point he said a new pond or pool liner is needed, which would run about $700, according to Sisco’s estimates. Instead, he said they will just wait until next year and start again. The village installed the boards and liner that make up the new rink under the park’s new pavilion. Trustee Eileen Patterson said cameras had been installed in the area after the vandalism occurred, but they were too late to catch whoever did this damage and in turn ruined the fun for village families. Hopefully, the cameras will be enough incentive to keep vandals from doing the same damage next year, she said. “It’s very disappointing,” said Mayor Michael Newhard.