Greenwood Rink Correspondence

From: Michael Ellison [mellison@toronto.ca]
Sent: Wednesday, January 13, 2010 5:46 PM
To: sallybliss@rogers.com
Cc: Antonio Andrade; Bob Ward; Paula Fletcher
Subject: Greenwood Park Rink

Dear, Ms. Bliss Thank you for your email sent January 12, 2010 regarding the outdoor ice rink at Greenwood Park concerning the operational hours at Greenwood Park.

The rink is open from 9:00 am-10:00 pm Monday to Sunday, However the building is only open Monday to Saturday 1:00 pm -10:00 pm and 10:00 am to 6:00 pm on Sunday. We are not able to leave to building open and unsupervised for safety and security reasons.

We will continue to work with all individuals to improve the customer service and experience for all participants who use our facilities. Parks, Forestry & Recreation strives for high standards in our service delivery, and welcomes input from our participants to continue such delivery, please free to contact Michael Ellison, Supervisor of Community Recreation, Parks, Forestry & Recreation at 416 392-5143 or mellison@toronto.ca should you require further information or have any questions.

Subject: [Fwd: FW: Greenwood Park Rink]
Date: Wed, 13 Jan 2010 20:41:04 -0500
From: Jutta Mason <jutta.mason@sympatico.ca>
To: akoropes@toronto.ca <akoropes@toronto.ca>

Hi Andy -- was this your instruction? (forwarded to me by Sally Bliss)

Jutta

From: <sallybliss@rogers.com>
Cc: Jutta Mason <jutta.mason@sympatico.ca>
Cc: Bob Ward <bward1@toronto.ca>
Cc: Antonio Andrade <aandrade@toronto.ca>
To: Michael Ellison <mellison@toronto.ca>
Cc: Paula Fletcher <pfletch@toronto.ca>
Sent: 14/01/2010 8:56:19 PM
Subject: RE: Greenwood Park Rink

Dear Michael,

Thanks for your attention to my query. I trust that the public schedule will be updated to reflect the actual skating times and that the rinkhouse hours will be noted. I also hope that some benches will be moved outdoors so that people have a place to put on skates when the building is locked. Unfortunate that the building can't be open longer.

From: Paula Fletcher [pfletch@toronto.ca]
Sent: Thursday, January 14, 2010 11:39 PM
To: sallybliss@rogers.com
Subject: Re: Greenwood Park Rink

Thanks Sally,

I have passed this on the Parks people asking that these ideas be accommodated.

Thanks for your good suggestions.

Councillor Paula Fletcher

sallybliss@rogers.com wrote: To all involved,

I was very impressed to skate at Greenwood rink today and find that the rubber mats on the stairs going down to the rink were safely and properly laid, the rink house fountain wasn't overflowing anymore and two benches had been moved outside and were being used. That's swift action!

There are 7 more benches in the changerooms that aren't being used because there's no rubber under them. (That doesn't include the benches that can be used because they are alongside the rubber leading to the washrooms).

How about putting a few of these benches inside the windowed front part of the rinkhouse across from the existing benches? It would immediately create a friendlier vibe and make it less inviting for the rink attendant's friends to sit on the counter outside their office window.

Also--there's a picnic table that sits unused outside a locked door on the east side. Bring it inside and I'm sure it would be appreciated.

Thanks for your consideration.

-Sally

From: Jutta Mason [jutta.mason@sympatico.ca]
Sent: Tuesday, January 19, 2010 11:51 PM
To: sallybliss@rogers.com
Cc: 'Paula Fletcher'; 'Michael Ellison'; 'Bob Ward'; 'Antonio Andrade'
Subject: Re: Greenwood Park Rink restricted hours: why?

Hi Sally -- That's great news about the repairs to the unsafe stair matting and to the water fountain, and the two benches moved outside. I hope that the staff have taken up your suggestion to move some of the other unused benches into the front room so more people can watch the rinks, and sit together with their neighbours.

As you pointed out, the big puzzle at Greenwood Rink is that it has no rink change room access until the afternoons from Monday to Saturday. It's the only neighbourhood double-pad rink (of the 12 double pads in the city) to have that limitation. All the rest open at 9 a.m. With so many kids and young families in the area, it's astonishing that even on Saturdays the building doesn't open until 1. And on Sundays it closes at 6 -- prime skating time for lots of families. (?)

You may want to ask your councillor why there's this anomaly at Greenwood. If there is less staffing budget for Greenwood Rink than for the other double pads, it would be good to find out why. And as a start, the rink house could be opened on Saturday morning right away (an additional staffing cost per Saturday of less than $50). Getting the building opened at the same time as the other city double-pad rinks would make a lot of skaters happy.

Best of luck!

Jutta Mason
http://cityrinks.ca

Subject: RE: Greenwood Park Rink restricted hours: why?
Date: Thu, 21 Jan 2010 14:01:47 -0500
From: <sallybliss@rogers.com>\\ To: 'Jutta Mason' <jutta.mason@sympatico.ca>
CC: 'Paula Fletcher' <pfletch@toronto.ca>, 'Michael Ellison'
<mellison@toronto.ca>, 'Bob Ward' <bward1@toronto.ca>, 'Antonio Andrade'
<aandrade@toronto.ca>'''

Hi there, Could someone responsible for the building hours please explain why Greenwood’s rink is an anomaly? It’s even more confusing because in past years, I remember being inside the building to tie my skates for women’s shinny on Saturdays at 10:00am and seeing lots of kids in there getting changed for their lesson. Now that I have two children under the age of 3, I rely on published schedules. So is the building now really closed until 1pm on Saturday?

With such a short season, it’s really unfortunate that the public isn’t properly informed of the facility hours.

I have also brought these issues to the attention of the Friends of Greenwood Park group (FROG).

Thank you for your consideration,

Sally Bliss

Subject: Here is the Schedule- Sat is open for Lessons and
Shinny(women only) in the am.
Date: Thu, 21 Jan 2010 14:46:50 -0500
From: Antonio Andrade <aandrade@toronto.ca>
To: Mason', 'Jutta <jutta.mason@sympatico.ca>, sallybliss@rogers.com
CC: Ellison, Michael <mellison@toronto.ca>, Fletcher, Paula
<pfletch@toronto.ca>, Kelvin Seow <KLSEOW@toronto.ca>, Ward, Bob
<bward1@toronto.ca>'''

Hello:

I will be assuming responsibility for Ward 30 (including Greenwood rink) on Monday January 25th, 2010.

The attached is the Schedule for Greenwood. Should you have any other questions or concerns please do not hesitate to ask. Hope this helps.

GREENWOOD AIR SCHEDULE 2010 WINTER SEASON JANUARY 4th, 2010 TO MARCH 1st, 2010

		PLEASE RESPECT THE RINK SCHEDULE	

Monday

• 1:00pm-10:00pm Pleasure Skating All Ages
• 1:00pm-4:00pm Shinny Hockey Adult
• 4:00pm-5:00pm Shinny Hockey Parent and Child ( 8 Under)
• 5:00pm-6:30pm Shinny Hockey Parent and Child (13 Under)
• 6:30pm-8:00pm Shinny Hockey 14-17yrs
• 8:00pm-10:00pm Shinny Hockey Adult

Tuesday

• 1:00pm-10:00pm Pleasure Skating All Ages
• 1:00pm-4:00pm Shinny Hockey Adult
• 4:00pm-6:00pm Shinny Hockey Parent and Child ( 13 Under)
• 6:00pm-8:30pm Shinny Hockey 14-17yrs
• 8:30pm-10:00pm Weekly Permit Weekly Permit

Wednesday

• 1:00pm-10:00pm Pleasure Skating All Ages
• 1:00pm-4:00pm Shinny Hockey Adult
• 4:00pm-6:00pm Shinny Hockey Parent and Child ( 8 Under)
• 6:00pm-8:00pm Shinny Hockey Adult
• 8:00pm-10:00pm Shinny Hockey Adult:Women Only

Thursday

• 1:00pm-10:00pm Pleasure Skating All Ages
• 1:00pm-4:00pm Shinny Hockey Adult
• 4:00pm-5:00pm Shinny Hockey Parent and Child ( 8 Under)
• 5:00pm-6:30pm Shinny Hockey Parent and Child ( 13 Under)
• 6:30pm-8:00pm Weekly Permit Weekly Permit
• 8:30pm-10:00pm Seasonal Permit Permit

Friday

• 1:00pm-10:00pm Pleasure Skating All Ages
• 1:00pm-4:00pm Shinny Hockey Adult

 		4:00pm-5:00pm	Shinny Hockey		Parent and Child ( 8 Under)	

• 5:00pm-6:30pm Shinny Hockey Parent and Child ( 13 Under)
• 6:30pm-8:00pm Shinny Hockey 14-17yrs
• 8:00pm-10:00pm Shinny Hockey Adult

Saturday

• 9:00am-1:30pm Lessons Registered Program
• 10:00am-12:00pm Shinny Hockey Adult: Women Only
• 1:30pm-10:00pm Pleasure Skating All Ages
• 12:00pm-1:30pm Shinny Hockey Parent and Child ( 13 Under)
• 1:30pm-4:00pm Shinny Hockey Parent and Child ( 13 Under)
• 4:00pm-7:00pm Shinny Hockey 14-17yrs
• 7:00pm-10:00pm Shinny Hockey Adult

Sunday

• 11:00am-5:30pm Pleasure Skating All Ages
• 11:00am-12:30pm Shinny Hockey Adult: Women Only
• 12:30pm-2:00pm Shinny Hockey 14-17yrs
• 2:00pm-4:00pm Shinny Hockey Adult
• 4:00pm-5:30pm Shinny Hockey Parent and Child ( 13 Under)

Subject: Re: Here is the Schedule- Sat is open for Lessons and
Shinny(women only) in the am.
Date: Fri, 22 Jan 2010 00:22:17 -0500
From: Jutta Mason <jutta.mason@sympatico.ca>
To: Antonio Andrade <aandrade@toronto.ca>
CC: sallybliss@rogers.com, "Ellison, Michael" <mellison@toronto.ca>,
"Fletcher, Paula" <pfletch@toronto.ca>, Kelvin Seow <KLSEOW@toronto.ca>,
"Ward, Bob" <bward1@toronto.ca>, Aseel Alnajim'''

Thanks Antonio -- your schedule is somewhat different than the one that's posted on the city website (it has open pleasure-skating starting at 3 pm om Saturdays, http://cityrinks.ca/wiki/uploads/ListOfRinks/Skate2010-TorEYWeb_SouthDistrict.pdf, whereas yours says 1.30), and different again from the building-hours that Mike sent (forwarded at the bottom of this e-mail).

Schedules are tricky to make, but I'm guessing yours is the right one -- would the City be able to update it on the website? Meantime, I've cc'd our cityrinks web person on this, so she can copy your schedule onto our Greenwood Rink web page.

This still leaves the question up in the air: why does busy Greenwood Rink have far fewer hours of access to the changeroom than the other double pads? (Don't the schools ask for access in the mornings?)

Jutta

>>> <sallybliss@rogers.com> 1/22/2010 2:11 PM >>>

It would be really great if this could be settled. There are only a few months left in the season. Because of these schedules, the general public believes that the rink is closed for a huge number of hours that it is actually open for pleasure skating.

-Sally

From: Paula Fletcher [pfletch@toronto.ca]
Sent: Friday, January 22, 2010 5:30 PM
To: sallybliss@rogers.com
Subject: RE: Here is the Schedule- Sat is open for Lessons and
Shinny(womenonly) in the am.

Hello Sally,

I am working to solve this matter and hope that staff can have it all sorted out very shortly.

Thank you for drawing these matters to the City's attention - and in such a helpful manner!

All the best

Paula

From: Kelvin Seow [klseow@toronto.ca]
Sent: Friday, January 22, 2010 4:12 PM
To: sallybliss@rogers.com
Cc: Alnajim', 'Aseel; Andrade, Antonio; Bowser, Kevin; Bromley,Malcolm;\\ connieharding@rogers.com; Ellison,Michael; Fletcher, Paula; Koropeski,
Andy; Lambrakos, Yota; McInnes, Kelly; Patterson,Brenda; Ward, Bob
Subject: RE: Here is the Schedule- Sat is open for Lessons and
Shinny(womenonly) in the am.

Hello, my name is Kelvin Seow and I have recently returned to Parks, Forestry and Recreation as the Manager of Recreation for the Toronto/ East York District.

The Recreation staff are working with the Parks staff to re-work the signage and schedule for Greenwood currently. The signage will focus on ensuring that there is clarity around-

1. ice pad operation (i.e.. when the rink can be used)
2. Building hours- when the building is open (supervised) - buildings are opened when staff are on site
3. program times.

Also, the Recreation Supervisor has been reviewing the building staff schedule with the goal of having an earlier daily opening. The building will open at 9 am beginning on Tuesday, January 26th.

The clearer signage will be up Monday, January 25th end of day. Staff have been working with the web design staff to ensure the web information is updated. I've been told this will be done today.

Thank you with your patience and if you have further questions please contact me at 416 395 6190.

Kelvin Seow

Subject: RE: Here is the Schedule- Sat is open for Lessons and
Shinny(womenonly) in the am.
Date: Fri, 22 Jan 2010 19:12:15 -0500
From: <sallybliss@rogers.com>
To: 'Kelvin Seow' <klseow@toronto.ca>

Terrific!

Thank you.

-Sally