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Montreal Mayor Valérie Plante confirmed Thursday that recent excavation work on Beaver Lake in Mount Royal Park has rendered the basin too deep to be used safely as a skating rink, so the tradition of skating on it is probably a thing of the past.

While the smaller, refrigerated rink beside Beaver Lake remains open to skaters, Beaver Lake itself, which has been a popular skating destination for Montrealers and tourists since the 1930s, has not reopened for skating this winter and will most probably remain closed for good.

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Plante was asked about the issue at a press conference Thursday at city hall, where she had just wrapped up a meeting with Premier Philippe Couillard.

“I’m disappointed because I skated there,” Plante told reporters, before being interrupted by Couillard, who chimed in: “I skated there, too, when I was a kid.”

“At this point this is a security issue because it’s pretty (deep), so we have to make sure that there are no accidents there,” Plante said.