Rothesay opens new outdoor rink

Hundreds of Rothesayresidents turned up Monday evening to officially open the town's new outdoor skating rink.

It wasa proud moment for Rothesay parks and recreation director, Charles Jensen.

"And you thinkyou have a vision in your head about how it should look, and then when it actually opens, and the vision is how you envisioned it, it's awesome," he said.

"You know, people skating, Christmas music playing."

There are washrooms on site and the rink has its own hand-me-down Zamboni from the Rothesay Arena.

"I think it's great," said Tammy Prince, who is excited for her daughter Sophie. "It's reallyexciting that the kids are going to be able to play hockey on this ice surface as well, because we both have hockey players right here."

Mayor Bill Bishop acknowledgesnot everyone in the town was behind the $2.4 million project.

"The opposition is very vocal but very small and represents just a few people," said Bishop.

Businessman Jim Crosby lost a legal bid to stop the plan.

He has also filed appeals with the province's assessment and planning appeal board.

Even though the project is now complete, the mayor says the board has not informed the town of a ruling.

Earlier this fall the board said it would not tell CBC News whether a ruling had been made.

It has not as yet responded to a similar request made on Monday.