Winter Games skating oval to open soon

A team of ice specialists from Calgary willarrive in Halifaxthis weekend to begin the job of freezing the speed skating oval for the 2011 Canada Winter Games on the Halifax Common.

The 400-metre oval will be the proving ground for Canada's fastest skaters when the games open in mid-February, but in the next couple of weeks it will open for public skating.

Mary Angela Munroe, a former Canada Games figure skater and the oval's co-ordinator, said it was always a dream of hers to have an outdoor refrigerated ice surface to skate on.

She said the ice quality will be good because an ice resurfacing machine will be on site, as well as ice maintenance staff working throughout the day.

The ice will be made by six 120-tonne refrigeration units, which will be kept after the games and used for outdoor rinks somewhere in the Halifax region.

Workers will begin freezing the surface Monday.

The Halifax Common will be returned to its original condition in time for summer sports after the games.