Fall season preparations at the Redwater Arena

By Grant Cree

“We’re just doing maintenance till it warms up outside,” said Darren Odynski,

Arena Operator with the Town of Redwater. He and two other workers

keep busy in the arena before doing maintenance outside as part of the annual spring maintenance cycle.

“We can’t cut the grass until it dries up and starts growing,” said Odynski on April 21. “So right now, we’re doing spring clean up and trying to fix things in here that we’ve been meaning to spruce up.”

The arena crew plans to get as much done as possible, regardless of the spring and summer weather conditions. “This period of time is usually when we do quite a lot of maintenance,” he said. “There’s stuff we can’t do in the winter because we don’t have the time or people to do it. Right now, there’s no hockey, so our schedule is all the same for now.”

Odynski noted that the arena crew recently removed the ice, cleaned the pad and side boards, and renovated one corner. “Hopefully, it’ll look a little different in the fall.”