Beaver Lake's natural skating rink is closed, perhaps forever. Here it is in all its glory

For nearly a century, Beaver Lake was the centre of Mount Royal's winter wonderland.

It was built in the1930sand immediately became a major draw.

Montrealersnot only skated on the lake. Theyskiedaround the lake's perimeter, glided downthetoboggan run and enjoyed horseback riding on nearbytrails.

But in recent years, due to increasingly fluctuating temperatures, the ice surface has been closed to skating more often than not.

The lakewas only open for 37 days last year, compared to roughly 100 in years past, saidLucFerrandez, Montreal'sexecutive committee memberresponsible for large parks.

On Thursday,Ferrandezconfirmed the plan right now is to close the rink for good.

Skaters will still be able to use the smaller, refrigerated rink adjacent to the lake.

Beaver Lake was designed by Frederick Todd, Canada's first landscape architect, who trained under famed landscape architectFrederick Law Olmsted. Olmsted designed Mount Royal Park.

The lake was built on an old swamp and named after the beaver dams uncovered during its construction.

The city gave the lake and surrounding area a makeover, which was completed in 2015.

The current Beaver Lake is deeper than the original, which means it needs to be colder for the ice to be solid enough to skate on.

HlnePanaoti, a spokesperson forLesAmisde laMontagne, said she's still hopeful the city can find a way to keep the lake open.

Lowering the water level during the winter months is one possibility.