Lynn to transform Common into skating rink

LYNN – Ice skating is coming back to downtown Lynn, thanks in part to Ward 4 Councilor Richard Colucci and the so-called polar vortex earlier this month.”We are going over (Tuesday) to flood the commons,” said Public Works Associate Commissioner Lisa Nerich. “It’s down near the bandstand, right in the middle; you won’t be able to miss it.”Colucci raised the idea of skating on Lynn Common late last year. Nerich said she thought the idea was a good one, particularly given the arctic blast the region has been experiencing, which forecasters have attributed to a weather phenomenon known as the polar vortex. However, it took some time to work out the logistics, she said. With the details now ironed out Nerich said a Public Works crew will be on the Common around 8:30 a.m. and if the weather forecast holds, it should be ready for skating in a day or two.”It will be free and open to the public,” she said. “There is no charge for anything but you skate at your own risk.”Mayor Judith Flanagan Kennedy said liability was the only piece of the project that worried her but Colucci said there should be no issues. He said the city’s Law Department stated that as long as the city didn’t charge it couldn’t be liable should anything happen.”It’s all good,” Colucci said.Colucci said he got the idea to transform the Common from his childhood. Both he and Nerich said they remember the days when skating on the Common was, well, common.”Years ago, when I was a kid, George Kibby, an older guy, was my neighbor,” Colucci said. “He taught me to skate backwards on the Commons.”Colucci said he no longer skates but he is confident others will head downtown for the chance to take to the ice in the open air on the Common. When asked if she thinks residents will come to the outdoor rink, Nerich was optimistic. She said it would be fun to see some pickup hockey games or spontaneous team practices out there.”There won’t be any milk crates or walls or anything to hold you up, but it will be a nice and safe environment, and I hope a lot of people take advantage of that,” she said.Nerich said she is also hopeful that people take some pride in the makeshift pond as well and not leave trash, bottles that could get broken or shopping carts on the ice.”It would just ruin it for others,” she said.She was also quick to note that there would be no skate rentals and parking is limited to on the street.”It’s open to all ages, anyone can come, and frankly I would rather see kids skating at the park rather than on a pond,” she said. “It will be much safer.”