LEYDEN — Weather permitting, Leyden residents can look forward to skating on a new ice rink this winter.
The Recreation Committee has proposed installing an ice rink to the right of the town pavilion at Avery Field on Brattleboro Road.
Secretary Mary Lou Barton and her son Carey Barton, who is chairman of the committee, came up with the idea last year.
“My son and grandsons love to ice skate,” Mary Lou Barton said. She explained that Leyden used to have a rink on the town tennis courts in winter months.
“(The rink) was a big hit,” Barton said, adding that many Leyden residents are eager for a new rink.
Barton said installing a rink was discussed last year as well, but weather during the winter months proved to be too warm.
Installation would involve building sides, laying down a thick sheet of plastic and filling the 40-by-100-foot rink with a few inches of water, a process which the board estimated would cost $2,200. Funding will come from the Recreation Committee’s revolving account, Barton said. She suspects the committee will begin installation in October or November.
Selectboard members were particularly supportive at a recent meeting because the rink would prevent skaters from falling through the ice on other, deep bodies of water.
Support has been expressed throughout the town. Barton said Police Chief Daniel Galvis offered to have a light installed by the pavilion that would illuminate the rink until 10 p.m. and the Highway Department agreed to keep the facilities clear of snow.
Barton said that, when combined with hills that are great for sledding, having an ice rink near the town pavilion would make it a great place for wintertime fun.
“I just think it would be a great place for everyone to get together and have a lot of fun,” she said.