Robson Square rink reopens in time for Olympics

VANCOUVER — Paige Cooper, Isabella Bardua and Jared and Elizabeth Hughes are too young to remember public skating at the open-air arena at Robson Square in downtown Vancouver. For nearly a decade the oval underneath Robson Street has been disused, a place that gathered leaves in the fall and dust the rest of the year.

But today new life was breathed into the old rink, and Cooper and her friends from the Vancouver Skating Club found themselves trying out fine new ice.

"This is so cool," Cooper, 12, said. "It's a beautiful rink, right in the middle of the city, and it's got pretty good ice. I wonder why it took so long to do this."

The answer to that is a complicated one that rests in the political annals of past provincial governments that saw the rink as a costly and unnecessary facility, and which turned their backs on other facilities at Robson Square.

Premier Gordon Campbell said today he disagreed with the former NDP government's decision to close the arena in 2000, and he hopes that chapter is now closed.

He wants the arena, with its $2-million upgrade, to once again become a popular public place.

"Governments make choices. Our choice is that we felt this was an important part of this facility, the public felt it was an important part of the facility," he said.

"The previous government decided it was going to close it down and they also decided they weren't going to keep up Robson Square."

Now, however, he sees the rink as the centrepiece for a revitalized Robson Square. “The rink is actually something that says you're invited to be in Robson Square. It's an exciting, lively place to be," he said.

The facility has been temporarily renamed GE Plaza to reflect the $700,000 that GE, one of the Olympics' top sponsors, contributed largely to the renovation process. It helped buy a new refrigeration plant, expand the rink by more than a third, and install energy-efficient LED lights The name will remain until the end of the Paralympic Games in March.

The refurbishment is part of a much larger $40.9-million rebuild of Robson Square, which includes repair of numerous underground membranes, water features and landscaping. Of that, $11 million was spent on repair of the so-called Lower Robson Square, where the arena is located.

Campbell said the government will cover the cost of operating the arena in future years.

"This will be permanent again. It will be run by Robson Square when the Olympics are over," he said. "It will be paid by the taxpayers."

But it is during the next six months that the arena will get its greatest use. The skating area is the centrepiece of a large government and corporate presence during the 2010 Winter Games. On one side of the oval will be the International Media Centre, a facility for unaccredited journalists from around the world. On the other side will be provincial hosting facility and a showcase of B.C. industry. GE will also have a pavilion there.

Elyse Allan, the president and chief executive of GE Canada, said the arena was her company's most visible investment in the Olympics. GE has also provided a new CT scanner for Whistler, outfitted the two polyclinics at the Whistler and Vancouver athletes villages, and provided the mobile medical unit that will be stationed in Whistler during the Games.

All of those will be long-term legacies left to the province and its communities, she said.

To christen the ice, the province and GE brought in Canadian Olympian Jeffrey Buttle, who won a bronze in figure skating at the 2006 Turin Games. In front of about 100 dignitaries and media he delicately carved the ice with his skates. Later, the arena was turned over to two dozen skaters from the Vancouver Skating Club, who danced and raced and circled around the small oval.

John Furlong, the chief executive of the Vancouver Organizing Committee, hailed the reopening of the arena.

"I think it is perfectly located to take advantage of the energy of the city, and of course it is here for the long term," he said.

"Obviously, if the crowds come down this will be a big part of how our downtown works in the future."

Bardua said that even though she and her friends have several rinks to practice on, they'll come down to Robson Square because it's open-air and it's free.

"It's a kinda neat to be be here," Bardua said. "And the ice is pretty good."

The arena will be open daily between 9 a.m. and 9 p.m. People without skates can rent them for $3 at the local rental shop.

Jeff Lee's Olympic blog: vancouversun.com/insidetheolympics

jefflee@vancouversun.com