Blog: City Blog

Holidays Behind Us As Ice Rink Comes Down

The holiday season is officially behind us, evidenced by removal of most downtown decorations and current demolition of the “Holidays on Ice” skating rink on Market Square this week.

“We’ve been lucky this year with 60-degree days helping us to break the ice rink down, and it should be gone by Friday,” said Alex Neubert, Public Service Area Manager who oversees the ice rink construction and demolition each year.

The thousands of skaters on Market Square this season can thank 25 crew members who had a hand in building and now breaking down the ice skating rink.

First, City workers from three divisions of Public Service (Facility Services, Construction, and Service Area I) build a 101-by-40-foot, 156.8-ton sand box that maintains cool temperatures for the ice. Next, they erect a 100-by-38.5-foot frame for the ice itself.

Ice Rink Events is contracted by the City to provide the ice and rink walls, as well as manage the rink’s operations through the duration of the season. The attraction gained popularity with its second year of “open air” skating, as opposed to being covered by a tent in years past. This year, patrons enjoyed the new glass wall feature, which enhanced the sense of skating on the Square.

It took 3 1/2 weeks (2,043 hours of labor) to build the ice skating rink this year. Weather depending, it usually takes about two weeks (an average 400-500 hours of labor) to take down.

“Our crews do a great job of bringing the Square back to normalcy and transitioning as quickly as possible for the customers and businesses,” said Chad Weth, Public Service Director.

The same crews are also removing downtown Christmas decorations, with the Krutch Park tree already packed away for Christmas 2017.

Posted by On 19 January, 2017 at 8:19 AM