The construction of a paved ice rink in Gieten is getting closer. If all goes well, residents of the village will be able to put in place by the end of next year, the initiators of the plan think. But a lot still needs to be done.
A working group of twelve residents wants to build an asphalt track 400 meters long. There should be a practice rink next to it where children can learn to skate safely. In summer the ice rink can be used for roller skating.
At the moment, the ice rink at the Boddeveld is only a grass field. The Gieten-Bonnen Ice Association floods the field with water if there is any prospect of freezing cold. In recent years it usually did not freeze long enough for a safe ice layer.
“You need 7 or 8 centimeters of ice for that,” explains chairman Rigt Venema of the ice skating association. “Every time we have to wait and hope that it will freeze long enough to be able to skate on it.”
An asphalt rink requires much less thick ice and can therefore be skated much sooner than on a traditional ice rink. According to Venema, about 3 to 4 centimeters is already enough. “Last skating season, our rink was able to open for one day, while in villages where there is already a hard rink, they could skate for three days.”
The municipality of Aa en Hunze and the neighborhood are aware of the plans and, according to Moek, the response has been positive so far. “We want to involve local residents properly. It is of course about their living environment.”
There are also discussions with the adjacent Dekelhem residential care center, but about climate cooperation. With the help of pipes under the track, residual heat or coolness can possibly be removed to the nursing home to heat it in the winter and cool it in the summer.
“That is only a second phase of the plan,” says Moek. “But it would be very nice if we could achieve that.”
Before the new ice rink can be built, several studies still need to be carried out. The municipal council must then approve the plans and the working group will start working to raise the required seven hundred thousand euros for the track.
The ice skating association and the working group are hopeful that construction of the asphalt track can start next year. If it is up to the ice skating association, the first skaters will be able to take to the ice in the winter of 2025/2026.
Watch the video to see what the ice rink will look like and whether a marathon on natural ice will soon be an option in Gieten.
