NORWICH – Love it or loathe it, the time for winter recreation is right around the corner and in preparation, the city has exchanged the worn rug in the Borden Avenue ice skating facility with new flooring tiles that will bring a noticeable change to the building’s interior.

Hundreds of local residents take advantage of the skating rink every winter. In the past, skaters have freely moved in and out of the skating rink’s small building after warming up on cold winter days, unintentionally damaging the carpet and dulling the blades of ice skates. Further damage was caused by melting snow and growing mold and mildew underneath the carpet. This led the city to replace carpeting a couple times in the last several years, said Bob Mason, director of the city youth bureau and recreation, and it’s something that will be prevented with the new matting.

The new flooring comes at a low cost to the city. Grant money from the RC Smith Foundation funded $3,500, leaving Norwich to pay the remaining balance of the $4,800 project with money from the city’s reserves. It’s an investment that was well worth the cost, said Planning and Development Specialist Todd Dreyer, because the new flooring also comes with a 20-year guarantee and is expected to last much longer than carpeting, thereby offsetting the additional amount paid by the city.

“The rugs in the building have been replaced twice in the last several years. It just wasn’t made to hold up to ice skates,” said Mason. “This new flooring will just be a lot easier to maintain.”