Sharon Springs could be getting not just one, but two places for wintertime skating.
With the goal of getting both kids and adults outdoors throughout the long months of winter, the Sharon Springs American Legion is working on skating projects on both Bowmaker’s Pond and behind the Sharon Springs Free Library.
The Bowmaker’s project would be the simplest to pull off, said Tony Desmond, one of those behind it: It would just involve shoveling off the south end of the popular Route 10 fishing spot.
“Nothing big,” Mr. Desmond told Supervisor Sandy Manko and councilmen Thursday as he explained the project.
“We’ll just shovel it off and then put rope or tape across the deeper end. Bowmaker’s is such a great resource…We’d like to see it used more.”
The Legion’s plans for the library, which also houses town and village offices, are more ambitious and more fluid, said Tony Gestone, who’s working with Mr. Desmond--and who’s already built a small rink on his parents’ property on Beechwood Road.
Because the surface in the back parking lot is so impervious, Mr. Gestone said they could probably get away with just building some sort of frame for the rink and then flooding it.
Putting down a layer of plastic sheeting might be preferable, Mr. Gestone said, but that would also start getting expensive—especially for something the group wants to get going ASAP.
Though everyone would be welcome, the rink at the library, where there’s more lighting and a little more supervision, would be intended for youngsters.
“We’re thrilled with the idea,” said Lora Newell, president of the Sharon Springs Free Library board.
“We’ve been working hard to make the library a centerpiece of the community and this would be one more reason to draw people into the village.”