Outdoor rinks are a staple of Minnesota communities. They’re under threat from warmer winters, high costs and changing recreation habits. The Minnesota Star Tribune Dozens of people skate at the Maple Grove Central Park outdoor ice rink in Maple Grove on Monday. (Renée Jones Schneider/The Minnesota Star Tribune) School was out and ice skating was in at Maple Grove’s outdoor Central Park rink. “I like to skate because I like to go fast,” said Camille Boucher, 4. Snowsuited up, she stomped her hockey skates quickly on the ice Monday to illustrate the point. The place was packed. Some skated close to the rails, attempting to stay upright. Others darted through the crowd. A kid hit the ice and laughed it off. Families brought their out-of-town loved ones and friends caught up as they made laps on the winding skate path. It could have been a postcard for Minnesota. But with warmer winters, rising maintenance costs and changing recreation habits, some outdoor community rinks are under threat as Twin Cities-area parks workers struggle to keep ice in skating form. And that, some researchers say, could melt some of the social fabric of a cold, dark season. Free community ice rinks are a staple in cold-weather cities, and while they may be fun, they’re not frivolous, said Mervyn Horgan, an associate professor at the University of Guelph in Ontario who studies the social life of public places, including ice rinks , which bring social benefits as well as physical ones. “It’s a real space of joy,” Horgan said. “It’s really the only place, in the winter, where you encounter people just in the outdoors engaged in kind of free leisure activities and having fun together.” In November, the Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board recommended closing four neighborhood ice rinks in the […]