Evergreen Park and Recreation District has canceled all events scheduled to take place this winter on unmaintained areas of Evergreen Lake’s ice after the .
An annual veterans fishing day planned for Feb. 1 and the Evergreen Ice Bike Race scheduled for Feb. 28 are canceled “while (the district) conducts a thorough review of procedures, seeking to learn from this tragedy additional ways to proceed in the future to ensure safety in all aspects and areas of the lake,” the .
On Jan. 22, Greg Henika was on the lake ice in an all-terrain vehicle equipped with a plow to clear the ice for an upcoming charity ice golf tournament he organized. The vehicle fell through the ice with Henika in it and he was in the water for more than 30 minutes before emergency response teams removed him. He later died at a Denver hospital.
The ice golf tournament and other canceled events take place annually on parts of the lake outside areas groomed for ice skating. The district stresses that ice skating at Evergreen Lake will remain open to the public, weather permitting.
“We want to reassure the public that the Evergreen Lake Ice Rink is located in a maintained area of the lake, and remains open to the public as a safe place to enjoy skating,” the district said. “The rink is measured daily in up to 48 locations to ensure a depth of at least 12 inches.”
The district’s ice skating hotline, 720-880-1391, notifies the public daily of ice conditions and if weather allows for ice skating.
Josie Klemaier: 303-954-2465, jklemaier@denverpost.com or twitter.com/JosieKlemaier
