ELBOW—Fun and games at Elbow’s Rink have been put on hold.

Due to an incident of mischief and vandalism the village has locked the door to the facility. It posted this closure notice on its website Friday, Jan. 26: “Due to damages the Elbow Rink will be closed until further notice”.

Village administrator Yvonne Jess described the damages as minor, more of a nuisance, including messes made in the washrooms, damage to a basketball hoop and paper towels were strewn about.

However, “Someone decided to burn some paper towels on the skating surface. This was the big concern,” Jess said. Concerned that the facility could have burned down, the village decided to lock the doors until council decides what to do next.

Council will be discussing the rink closure at its Feb. 12 meeting.

This winter, the Village decided not to put ice in the rink. Instead, in mid-December, they opened it up for kids in the community to use it to play floor hockey and basketball. There are also ramps and jumps in the building for use as a BMX/skateboard park.

The doors were never locked and people were free to come and go whenever they wanted.

Jess said users were informed that this access was a privilege, one they were expected not to abuse.

Jess said they do not know who is responsible. Nor has it been reported to RCMP.