The Olympic city's only open-air, public ice rink re-opened Monday at Robson Square, nine years after it was closed by NDP budget cuts.
The only thing missing was the public when Torino 2006 bronze medalist and 2008 world champion Jeffrey Buttle became the ceremonial first skater on GE Plaza.
"I don't know how they set-up the ceremony," said Premier Gordon Campbell. "I know that we wanted to have it open, we had some people come. One of the things that we do try to do is we try and make sure that the message can get out properly."
That message is the public can skate for free daily from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. at the province's Olympic live site. Skate rentals are $3 a pair.
The elongated rink was supposed to open in 2008, but the $11 million lower Robson Square upgrade was complicated by the replacement of a waterproofing membrane.
"This became a much more difficult construction project than anyone had ever dreamed of," said Peter Foss, GE's Olympic sponsorship president. "We hoped to have this operational a year and a half ago, so we would have had a couple of winters running some events here."
GE paid $700,000 of the $2 million rink cost.
"This is a nice investment," Foss said. "This is about physical activity and health."
