Why are Sault rinks so dirty?
There is no nice way to write this. Our rinks are dirty, disgusting and embarrassing. It says here that John Rhodes Community Centre, built in 1979, is poorly maintained and attended to. Same applies to GFL Memorial Gardens, which opened in 2006 and has quickly turned into a grubby, grimy barn.
And I am not alone in my harsh assessments of the Rhodes and the GFL Memorial Gardens. Every person who I have talked to about the conditions of the two city owned and operated rinks relay similar assessments: the men’s and women’s washrooms are, in a word, “disgusting.”
Why is this? Why can’t our rinks be properly cleaned and maintained? It certainly isn’t like this in other arenas that myself, family members and friends have been in for hockey games within the last year or so.
Age should have nothing to do with cleanliness. And, by comparison, in a smaller town such as Timmins, the rinks are much cleaner by comparison. Same holds true — from rinks that I have been in — in the much bigger northeastern Ontario city of Greater Sudbury.
Any way, back to age of a particular facility and why it shouldn’t matter. For example, rinks that I have been to within the last year or two that, by comparison, are much, much cleaner than either the Rhodes or GFL Memorial Gardens include Archie Dillon Sportsplex in Timmins and Sudbury Community Arena. And for the record, Archie Dillon Sportsplex in Timmins was built in 1979, which is the same year as the Rhodes opened its doors. And Sudbury Community Arena opened way back in 1951 — which is 55 years before GFL Memorial Gardens opened.
Taking it a step further, look at another city owned and operated rink across the river from us. That would be Pullar Stadium, which opened in 1939 — yes 1939 — and has very clean washrooms to go with a spotless facility in general.
Now, in Sault Ste. Martie, we have the recently opened twin pad facility known as the Northern Community Centre. How long before it becomes neglected and unkempt, just as its predecessor, the McMeeken Centre, was allowed to turn into a dirty, unsightly disaster?
Perhaps our new Mayor, Matthew Shoemaker, can pay a few unannounced visits to the Rhodes and the Gardens and check them out.
Again, this is not just me who has such a dim view of how the washrooms at both the Rhodes and Gardens always seem to be so dirty. Seems as though everyone I talk to has the exact same impression.
In closing, I have the following message from a city worker regarding what he admits is the “dirty” condition of the two local rinks in question. For obvious reason, relative to his employment with the city, he shall remain unnamed. It should be noted that worker reached out to me after hearing that I would be writing a column about the overall conditions at the Rhodes and Gardens.
“There is a lack of man power, also a lack of equipment to get the job done. The priorities on management’s part are not there. For example, we have asked for a new scrubber for the GFL but it either falls on deaf ears or they say they have no money. We used to have a good work force. Now, there are too many managers that out number the workers. There is also a lack of communication between staff and management. There is a lot of stuff going on that the public is unaware of. And with a facility like the GFL here should be a concert or an event besides hockey at least once a month.”
There you have it. Like it or not.