ON A DAY WHEN THE TEMPERATURE in Barbados topped 88 degrees Fahrenheit (31 degrees Celsius), an Italian and a Canadian were putting the finishing touches on an ice-skating rink that should open here in just over a week.
But the proposed attraction, an anomaly in the tropics, will not feature the customary frozen ice or coolant made smooth by a Zamboni machine gliding over its surface, rather plastic laid down to give the feel and appearance of the slippery floor usually associated with figure skating and ice hockey.
Italian artist Paolo Carraro and his business partner Tim Oldfield, CEO and owner of the Canadian- based SmartRink company, will be opening the island’s first skating rink in Wildey, St Michael come September 30.
Carraro said on Monday during a tour of the facility, branded Icetopia, that he had a dream of seeing a 2022 Barbadian Winter Olympics team in Beijing, China while Oldfield hinted at the possibility of inter-school figure skating and ice hockey competitions right here in the near future. (MR)
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