By STU PIDDINGTON - The Timaru Herald
FREEZING FUN: Inline skating has been revived in South Canterbury and the Caroline Bay rink is set to be replaced. But even cold winter nights have not kept keen skaters away.
The club has been revitalised over the past two years with an active committee, a speedskating team that has produced two age-group New Zealand representatives, and now boasts more than 120 members.
The dramatic change came two years ago after 21-year-old former world champion, Nicole Begg, offered free lessons at the almost forgotten track.
Since then new life has been breathed into the facility and the revival is almost complete with up to a 100 casual users skating on sunny Sunday afternoons, with Friday night club skating and speed training in-between.
Stage one of the project is to demolish the old 166-metre, cracked and outdated track and lay a new international-sized, 200m bitumen banked track.
The new track will cost just under $330,000 while the balance of the money will be used to move the club rooms and brick wall at the western end to make way for the extension of the track.
The club has raised $205,000 so far.
The major donors are the Community Trust of Mid and South Canterbury ($100,000), the Timaru District Council ($50,000) and gaming machine trust Pub Charities($20,000).
The club has reserves of $27,000 which are being put towards the project while Mt Harper Ice Rink trustees has given $8000.
Club spokesperson Mark Lowen is delighted by the progress so far and hopes the track will be laid before next winter.
He said a new track was essential because cracks in the surface have made the track dangerous and were getting bigger as water got into them and froze.
"It's beyond fixing and the numbers we have attending both competitive and recreational skating mean it will be a well-used facility in both summer and winter."
Mr Lowen said that while the revival started with 21-year-old Begg there was now a solid base of parents to take the sport forward.
He was delighted with the support the club had received but was keen to hear from anyone else interested in helping.
The club has two additional stages planned: resurface the rink with the coatings that they use at the world championships, at a cost of $100,000 to $120,000, and build new clubrooms.
Tomorrow the club will hold its first championships in more than a decade with more than 50 skaters expected to compete indoors at the SBS Events Centre.
Next Sunday there will an open day at the Caroline Bay rink from 2pm with Begg showing her skills while on a break from racing.
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