SHELBURNE FALLS – A village resident has opened a public ice rink in his front yard.
Stefan Topolski, a Recreation Committee member, built a 2,500-square-foot rink at his home at 111 Bridge St., in January as a test-run for a hockey rink proposed for next winter. Topolski’s house is also his place of business: his medical practice, Trailside Health, and non-profit organization, Caring in Community.
“The neighbors have been really appreciative,” Topolski said. “The way that it’s free and open to the public is really the important thing, because that makes it more of a community.”
The proposed hockey rink is to replace the former Shelburne rink at Cowell Gym’s tennis/basketball court, as the facility was rehabilitated and no longer available for use.
The Recreation Committee is eyeing town land behind Buckland-Shelburne Elementary School as a location for a rink, covering 15,000 square-feet, Topolski said. Other possible locations include a softball field next to the former Arms Academy, and a “very small area” behind the elementary school bandstand. The rink would be free, relying on community volunteers to build and maintain. And Topolski’s front yard remains a “back-up plan.”
Topolski was inspired to build a rink in his yard when he noticed ice naturally froze there.
“Last spring, everything melted and froze and melted and froze and I realized – hey, it’s flat out there, and that’s ice out there. So last spring I went out there and I skated on my lawn for the first time,” Topolski said. “It’s a natural rink about 20-foot around – across. And so we thought, if nature can help us produce that sized rink on its own, it’s telling us that we can probably do even better ourselves.”
To build the ice rink, Topolski packed the snow cover, pushed some to the side to create borders, and gently ran a sprinkler over the snow consistently.
“I learned a lot about how to make ice, because it’s not easy,” Topolski said. “There are 15 kinds of ice. It turns out that you have to have just the right temperature … it’s a balance.”
You can reach Grace Bird at:
gbird@recorder.com
413 772 0261 ext. 280