City boss admits:

“Operating the ice rink is no longer affordable!

"If the financial situation of cities and municipalities does not change in general, many things will no longer be affordable in the future, and not just for us ..." So says the mayor of the Upper Austrian town that will no longer be able to afford to run its ice rink next winter for budgetary reasons.

Ried! Heart of the Innviertel. School town. Once even Upper Austria's soccer capital for many years. But now it no longer even has ice to offer sports enthusiasts in winter, apart from freezers in department stores, long drinks in bars and icicles on roofs.

The fact is: the ice rink in this city of 12,700 inhabitants will remain closed, at least this year, for cost reasons! This means that the area in the exhibition grounds, where around 13,000 mostly young ice skaters, field hockey players and ice disco guests romped around last winter alongside curling fans.

The Innviertel Penguins' ice hockey training will take place in Vöcklabruck this winter at least.(Bild: Reinhard Holl)

This hall was the meeting place for all those who can't afford an Arlberg vacation. My heart aches at this development.

Rieds VP-Bürgermeister Bernhard  Zwielehner

"This hall was a meeting place for all those who can't afford an Arlberg vacation. The development makes my heart ache," says VP city leader Bernhard Zwielehner about the closure. SPÖ deputy leader Peter Stummer calls it "madness". Reason: "The young people here have nothing left!"

Although, according to Stummer, the costs are only 65,000 euros per winter, of which 50,000 would be recouped according to the red city vice-chairman. The SP politician continues: "The rent of around 17,000 euros and the electricity costs of 25,000 euros would also be recovered, as these would have to be paid to Messe Ried and Energie Ried respectively."

However, if the financial situation of towns and municipalities does not change in general, many things will no longer be possible in the future, and not just in Ried.

Rieds VP-Bürgermeister Bernhard Zwielehner

A calculation that Mayor Zwielehner calls "window-dressing" and "sleight of hand". He refers to the unanimous budget decision in spring that ice rink operations would have to be cut for economic reasons, especially as many rink users come from surrounding municipalities, which is why Zwielehner is also considering a cross-district ice rink solution in the future.

Until then, however, winter sports for young people in Ried seem to have been put on ice. But the head of the town doesn't want to let that stand: "We have more than one hundred clubs - that's enough offer!" A worrying postscript: "However, if the financial situation of towns and municipalities does not change in general, many things will no longer be possible in the future, and not just in Ried."