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Westmont, IL —
For the past few years, local recreation officials have said there has been a big popularity boost in outdoor ice skating and hockey during the winter months, with local ponds and rinks seeing plenty of people skating.
These ponds and rinks are also free, unlike indoor facilities, which can be expensive for families looking to go skating or for hockey practice.
But this year has been a big washout when it comes to outdoor skating. Not because of the lack of interest, but because the mild temperatures this winter have led to poor and unsafe ice conditions, forcing the closure of ice rinks and ponds across the area.
The Westmont Park District has been operating two ice rinks at Veterans Memorial Park for the past four years, and they have been very popular for both youth and adult skating.
Bob Fleck, superintendent for Parks and Planning at the Westmont Park District, said unseasonably warm temperatures this year have made the rinks unusable for much of the winter. The rinks have only been able to be open four or five days this year thus far, he said.
“It really has been bad this year for ice conditions, as it just hasn’t been safe to use much of the time,” Fleck said. “We have only had it open three or four times, after having them open almost 90 days last year.”
The weather has been unwelcome for some, including skater Mark Voss of Clarendon Hills. Voss says he has been skating for more than 20 years, and that he prefers outdoor rinks to the large, indoor facilities.
“I just like the outdoor atmosphere of skating in the winter; it’s much better,” Voss said during a warm-up at the Seven Brides Ice Arena in Woodridge. “I like the frozen pond atmosphere, but I do think that indoor places are less hassle for families that want to take kids.”
The issue lies in having consecutive days of freezing temperatures to ensure a safe skating surface, Fleck said. He said several consecutive days of temperatures at less than 15 degrees are needed.
The Westmont Park District operates two outdoor rinks. Each rink’s surface is about eight inches think, and needs quite a bit of cold to freeze it completely through, he said.
The same issues are being reported at other nearby ice skating ponds and rinks, as well.
In Downers Grove, the Downers Grove Park District operates three ice skating locations at Prince Pond, Hummer Park and Barth Pond. But officials with the district report that none of the locations have been safe to open this season thus far, as the little ice that has been out there is just too thin to safely skate on.
For the past few years, local recreation officials have said there has been a big popularity boost in outdoor ice skating and hockey during the winter months, with local ponds and rinks seeing plenty of people skating.
These ponds and rinks are also free, unlike indoor facilities, which can be expensive for families looking to go skating or for hockey practice.
But this year has been a big washout when it comes to outdoor skating. Not because of the lack of interest, but because the mild temperatures this winter have led to poor and unsafe ice conditions, forcing the closure of ice rinks and ponds across the area.
The Westmont Park District has been operating two ice rinks at Veterans Memorial Park for the past four years, and they have been very popular for both youth and adult skating.
Bob Fleck, superintendent for Parks and Planning at the Westmont Park District, said unseasonably warm temperatures this year have made the rinks unusable for much of the winter. The rinks have only been able to be open four or five days this year thus far, he said.
“It really has been bad this year for ice conditions, as it just hasn’t been safe to use much of the time,” Fleck said. “We have only had it open three or four times, after having them open almost 90 days last year.”
The weather has been unwelcome for some, including skater Mark Voss of Clarendon Hills. Voss says he has been skating for more than 20 years, and that he prefers outdoor rinks to the large, indoor facilities.
“I just like the outdoor atmosphere of skating in the winter; it’s much better,” Voss said during a warm-up at the Seven Brides Ice Arena in Woodridge. “I like the frozen pond atmosphere, but I do think that indoor places are less hassle for families that want to take kids.”
The issue lies in having consecutive days of freezing temperatures to ensure a safe skating surface, Fleck said. He said several consecutive days of temperatures at less than 15 degrees are needed.
The Westmont Park District operates two outdoor rinks. Each rink’s surface is about eight inches think, and needs quite a bit of cold to freeze it completely through, he said.
The same issues are being reported at other nearby ice skating ponds and rinks, as well.
In Downers Grove, the Downers Grove Park District operates three ice skating locations at Prince Pond, Hummer Park and Barth Pond. But officials with the district report that none of the locations have been safe to open this season thus far, as the little ice that has been out there is just too thin to safely skate on.
“This is probably a less-than-typical year for us. We typically have had some skatable ice by now and we have not,” said Todd Reese, director of parks at the Downers Grove Park District.
There have been cold days, cold enough to create some ice, but it has all melted off, he said.
Woodridge Park District’s three ponds have also not been able to support ice skating this season, said Megan Petit, spokeswoman for the Woodridge Park District.
“In order for the ponds to be safe, we test them each day to make sure there is at least six inches of ice on the entire pond,” Petit said. “We have not had that this year at all yet.”
Fleck said if the warm weather continues, the district is going to have to think about removing its rinks to begin preparing the ballfields for spring.
“I’d say come the second week of February, if they continue to be unusable ,we are going to have to make a decision about getting them out of there for the season,” he said.
— Reporter Nick Vogel contributed to this story
