Reprinted with permission of
the Journal-News
From the JournalNews
By Linda Ebbing
HAMILTON — It’s not Rockefeller Center, but downtown
Hamilton’s Journal Square now boasts its very own ice skating rink.
Through a collaboration of several local organizations, the
40-by-60 foot artificial rink on Thursday was set up in less than a day by city
workers for the annual IceFest celebration.
Framed by a 2-by-4 subframe and plywood, 4-by-8 sheets of
“superglide” give the rink the slippery feel of real ice.
“It can be up in any weather, it doesn’t have to be
freezing, and it breaks down so you can store it,” said Gerry Hammond, a board
member of the City of Sculpture. Hammond said she saw an artificial ice rink in
a magazine several years ago and thought, “this would be really neat to have
downtown during the holidays and IceFest. That’s how it got going,” she said.
The rink, purchased from Florida Skating Productions of
Tampa, Fla., is guaranteed to last 10 years and will be taken up and rebuilt
each year, Hammond said. Plans are to provide skate rentals and concessions at
Journal Square, Hammond said. Funding for the rink comes from the Fort Hamilton
Healthcare Corp.
“The city was the vehicle that purchased the rink and will contract with someone to operate it, but Fort Hamilton Healthcare Corp. has agreed to donate the money — $40,000 — to purchase the rink,” said Ron Sunderhaus, director of marketing and public relations for Fort Hamilton Healthcare Corp. “We felt like we wanted to do something in conjunction with IceFest to bring people to downtown Hamilton. From our corporation’s standpoint, this is our way of contributing to revitalizing the downtown.” The rink is one of the feature attractions of IceFest 2004 but will be open all winter. A ribbon cutting ceremony is scheduled during the Annual Holiday Lighting Ceremony, Nov. 21, according to Debbie Fescina-Rulon, director of the Hamilton Visitor’s Bureau.