Plastic ice rinks a flop in Salzburg

Ice rinks covered in a plastic substance instead of real ice have proved a flop in the Alpine city of Salzburg, Austria.

Officials had chosen to use a plastic as an ice replacement despite regular freezing winter temperatures in the city.

The ice rink is located on the famous Mozart Square in Salzburg’s old town and for the first time had been covered in the synthetic substance.

But now the new surface has been voted a flop by visitors and locals and many people have decided to stay away from the ‘ice rink’ completely.

Interest in comparison to previous years has been limited.

Local politician in Salzburg Christoph Fuchs said: “The ice rink has been a complete flop. You can see this from images from the panorama camera. A live picture is taken every half an hour on the Mozart Square. These images show very few visitors using the ice rink. There are no traces of the 3,000 children who learned to skate on this rink last year.

“PVC ice is not as attractive as the real thing where you can glide along. It is difficult and hard work.”

The organiser of the ice rink also admitted that it had been a flop.

Sandra Begic said: “We didn’t have many visitors to the ice rink, but plenty of people visited the nearby punch stand for a warm drink. With the punch stand we were very happy.

Salzburg Mayor Heinz Schaden  said: “We wanted to try for one season whether it works or not.  We had a contract for one year to test whether the new surface works. They will be using natural ice again next year. I am pleased about this. Next year we will have proper ice once again.”