The Forks reopened part of the river skating trail this afternoon while unveiling finished and unfinished winners for their annual architecture competition, Warming Huts v.2017: An Art + Architecture Competition on Ice.
Some of this year’s winning huts are in the process of being built and Manager of Marketing and Communications for The Forks, Chelsea Thomson says most of them should be ready to get out on the trail by the end of the weekend.
This year’s winners are “Greetings from Bubble Beach” by Team 888 based out of Chicago, IL., “Open Border” by Joyce de Grauw and Paul van den Berg from Rotterdam, Netherlands and “Ice Lantern” by Lisa Tondino, Alexandra Bolen, Mathew Rodrigues and Drew Klassen out of Nova Scotia.
Also featured is the University of Manitoba Faculty of Architecture’s 2017 submission called “WARMHUT” and Nelson MacIntyre Collegiate student Sean Kohil’s submission, “On the Rails”.
The invited design came from Anish Kapoor of London, England, whose hut “Stackhouse” is being worked on by Italian-born Norwegian architect and ice sculptor Luca Roncoroni.
“For the most part we’re right on track with a few minor changes and additions needed before the huts are complete,” said Thomson. “Stackhouse may need another week, but Monday (Jan. 30, 2017) is when the ones from the plaza will make their way down to the trail.”
CEO of The Forks Renewal Corporation, Paul Jordan said in a release he’s excited about the selection of huts they are unveiling this year.
“I’m amazed at the creativity and variety of the submissions we received,” Jordan said in a statement. “It’s great to see that we continue to receive original designs from all over the world, right here in Winnipeg.”
Trail Partially Reopened
Thomson says part of the skating trail going down the Assiniboine River to the Osborne Street Bridge has been reopened after unseasonably warm January temperatures forced The Forks to temporarily close the entire trail earlier in the month.
Thomson says they’ve never had to close in the middle of January – even temporarily – but they’re always at the mercy of Mother Nature.
“We’ve learned at this point there’s no such thing as normal anymore,” said Thomson. “We always just try to deal with the conditions and build the best trail we can.”
“Everything is basically to be determined.”
She says the stretch going down the Red River remains closed because recent warm temperatures and rain created a pocket of slush on top of the thicker base layer of ice. Thomson said there is a risk people could fall through that layer of slush and they might think they’re falling into the river.
“The water may be up to their knees or ankles potentially if they did fall through the slush and that would for sure scare some people,” said Thomson.
Thomson says not to fret, however, and the base layer of ice is thick enough and there is zero risk that someone would fall through the river completely.
For skating conditions, locations on where you can access the trail, visit theforks.com.
Below are some concepts of what the warming huts featured this year will look like, provided by The Forks.
Sun, Apr 28, 11:00 AM
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