Once again, the West-Brook Skating Rink has opened for the season, marking the beginning of the official deep winter. Temperatures have been unseasonably mild this year, postponing the ice until just last Thursday, but now the cold has mostly settled in. Skates have been sharpened, hockey sticks rewrapped, pucks dropped and figure eights carved as youth and adults alike have taken to the rink.

The West-Brook rink has a long history in Biddeford, and it’s one of those places that has come dangerously close to extinction despite everyone’s perception that it would always be there for their children, grandchildren and so on. It was 1921 when the rink opened, long before the technological distractions of our age, but its simple appeal is still a major draw in the area. There’s nothing quite like taking in the frozen winter air while working up a sweat, cutting across the ice with sweeps of the blades on your feet.

West-Brook has been the place where countless locals have learned to skate and built memories of pick-up hockey games.

The rink has had many owners over the years, but the city owns it now and it’s maintained by the Knights of Columbus St. Joseph Council 12941 and the Masons Dunlap Lodge ”“ an unlikely combination of Catholics and mostly Protestants who, only a few decades ago, would have balked at the idea of working together. Nowadays, the two are providing able-bodied volunteers to prepare, organize and operate the rink, and it seems to be working out quite well. Working alongside these groups to keep the rink in existence are several young people who exchange their work for use of the rink.

West-Brook Skating Rink is a community treasure, and we’re glad to see it’s being well-maintained and used. In recent years, a new ramp to get to the ice has been built and a new floor was added to the warming hut.

In order to keep the rink usable, some more investments will be needed soon. Dragging sandbags on and off the rink to separate it from the brook is difficult to do and is not a permanent solution. The berm has deteriorated to the point that sandbags will soon not be enough, and the rink faces closure if investment is not made to shore up the berm. The city engineer is already working on getting a Department of Environmental Protection permit for significant work at the site that will help separate the brook from the flooded rink during the skating season.

It’s heartening to see that the National Guard has offered the labor and equipment to shore this place up, and we hope the city will recognize this important community asset and provide the money for permitting and materials.

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Today’s editorial was written by Managing Editor Kristen Schulze Muszynski on behalf of the Journal Tribune Editorial Board. Questions? Comments? Contact Kristen by calling 282-1535, Ext. 322, or via email at kristenm@journaltribune.com.