The City of East Lansing dedicated the long awaited pop ice rink in Valley Court Park on Friday but those looking to cut across the ice on their skates will have to wait for another day to cut across the pond.
Originally scheduled to open up for public use Thursday, the opening was moved to Friday due to poor weather and soft ice conditions, which made the ice unsuitable for skating. The city delayed the opening of the rink until Friday hoping the chilled weather would be able finish the freezing process.
It looked as if the rink would finally be open and it was originally reported on downtownel.com that the rink would be ready for skaters however, some time later in the day the rink was deemed unsuitable for skating, claiming broken ice, but officials hoped the rink would be ready for skaters by Saturday or Sunday.
The planned opening celebration however, went on as planned.
In front of crowd of about 15 to 20 people who braved the cold and wind, East Lansing City Council member Erik Altmann gave the opening remarks thanking everyone for coming and thanking all those involved, saying it was “a lot of hard work,” that went into the creation of the rink.
He also noted it was trip back to the past for many in the community, referring to the abundance of public ice rinks that used to dot the city in the past.
Peter Dewan, Chairperson on the Downtown Development Authority, which develops programs and projects for the betterment of downtown East Lansing, talked about the development of the ice rink.
“We surveyed the downtown businesses about what we could do to create a better downtown and an ice rink was heavily supported,” Dewan said.
Dewan also noted that after recent stops in Chicago and Detroit he saw the vibrancy and collectiveness a downtown ice rink brought to those communities, something he hopes this ice rink will do for East Lansing.
Jeff Kusler, chairperson on East Lansing’s Downtown Management Board, also spoke at the event echoing much of the sentiments spoken by Altmann and Dewan.
Financing of the rink was made possible by local businesses, many of whom jumped on board the idea of downtown ice rink.
“It didn’t take much for us to get involved,” Tom Bramson, a partner in multiple East Lansing businesses including Rick’s American Cafe and Harrison Roadhouse said. “It’s a fun thing. Anything to get people to come out and enjoy the downtown.”
Bramson also added since the city does well with festivals in the summer it needed to do more in the winter and to bring people downtown. He added the rink would be a factor in that.
“Anything that helps bring people into downtown to enjoy the downtown is obviously crucial to our business but it’s just good for the city,” Bramson said.
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