It all began about February 2015 when the Downtown Management Board got together to plan out ideas and events local merchants could rally around. The one highly favored and resounding idea was a pop up ice rink. Though too late to raise funds and with the winter timetable the idea was shelved but not far enough to remain out of sight. 

At a later meeting and discussion about the latest public fundraising endeavor it was brought back up.

“This whole idea of the ice skating rink sort of got reintroduced, I think from the general public and the merchants, because they were like, 'listen, we just pulled off all this public art that we’re gonna put in the fall, let’s talk again about the ice skating rink,'” City of East Lansing community development specialist II Amy Schlusler said.

The dialogue continued and the Downtown Development Authority committed to donating $3,000 if the city’s businesses, churches, groups and citizens could raise the goal of $2,200 in two weeks. 

Through the generous efforts of East Lansing businesses, including the likes of Rick’s American Cafe, the Student Book Store and citizens, the ice rink will no longer be just an idea but a reality. The rink is hoped to again be a community hotspot that will boost the overall atmosphere of East Lansing. 

Even a new group that aims to bring a more positive interaction between citizens in East Lansing, East Lansing Forward, thought the new rink would be beneficial to the community. 

“We were struggling to find something downtown that could be used by everyone and promote fun and interaction and all that and when (the rink) presented itself it was a no brainer for us,” Keith Hagen of East Lansing Forward said. 

The rink will need volunteers, however, if it is to finally come about. Volunteers will be needed to supervise, shovel, play music, build the rink and maintain the rink. Volunteers can sign up by visiting www.cityofeastlansing.com/1729/Ice-Skating-Rink. 

The new rink will allow skating to begin Feb. 11 with operations set to cease Feb. 25. Skating is free for the public and is open from 3-9 p.m. each day. Residents will have to supply their own skates and hockey and other ice sports will not be permitted, at least this year.

Residents new and former have weighed in positively, as thoughts of the rink have brought out feelings of nostalgia. As of Tuesday afternoon, the Facebook post from the city announcing its plans has 460 likes and 235 shares. 

“As I got to college, the rink at Valley Court was a very popular place for pick up hockey games,” Terry McNabb, a former East Lansing resident who is now an aquatic biologist and certified lake manager and lives in Bellingham, Washington said via email. “On a nice, cold winter night these places were packed with everything from figure skaters to older people to kids enjoying the opportunity to get outside in the winter and get some exercise.” 

For some, it was part of growing up.

“We spent a lot of weekends there after school,” former East Lansing resident John Stoll said. 

He now resides in Portage, a city south of Kalamazoo, but said he always held fond memories of the rinks and hoped future kids could experience the same one day. 

“I think it’s a great thing that the city is looking into,” Stoll said. 

Some students are excited as well, though not a tremendous amount was known of the city’s planned project.

"That'll be really cool," genomics and molecular genetics senior Rachel Sullivan said. "We always used to build ice rinks in our backyard every winter so I kind of grew up skating."