On Wednesday, the City of Toronto cleared away a hockey game pockmarked with spittle and blood, an attempt to restore order to the widely criticized general manager’s station on the trolley car, the gambit that temporarily turned the facility into Toronto’s second biggest rally. (The hottest spot? It’s the Moda Center in Portland, which boasts a shiny structure along the circle that houses the winter carnival concert series.)
Though hockey enthusiasts expressed their displeasure with the lack of ice and predictable lineups on social media, many complained that the squabble, which became a local icon after two summers of unprecedented temperatures, was just a part of life in a time when the road system is effectively jammed.
As Accuweather notes, the full ice rink will remain in place for recreational activities this winter, a move that fits with the other shifts by top officials at the city and area jurisdictions that have taken place, as the New York Times detailed last weekend:
Allowing the rink to serve an even broader population — the UN’s climate summit will be held in Toronto from Nov. 6 to 17 — leaves arena managers contemplating upgrading heating equipment and bringing in artificial ice, which could be easier to adapt for summer. But Toronto City Council would not commit to saving the rink’s former status as the official winter carnival city icon for this year.
Where a decade ago they might have felt compelled to bulldoze and build a completely new rink entirely, officials and park managers seem to have shaken their heads in resignation that, beyond a temporary measure, TCOVID is destined to stay in place.
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