‘Skate in the park’ returns to Acacia Park

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO)-- The annual outdoor skating rink at Acacia Park is about to open in the heart of downtown Colorado Springs. The parks and operations administrator says this year they expect about 25,000 people will visit the outdoor ice skating rink. He says there are new activities this year to attract more people from Colorado Springs. 

"We got multiple theme skates so we are going to add skates with a Colorado College Tiger hockey theme. We got private events so if people want to do holiday parties they can host those here. We got a hockey tournament in January," said Parks Operations Administrator, Andrew Rummel.  

The work starts two weeks prior to the launch. A group of about 20 gets together, get creative, and gets building.

"They lay sand to level the surface then they build a rink with a chiller plant, chiller pipes everything that a normal indoor rink would have we have here." 

'Skate at the Park' is a staple amongst the Colorado Springs community, giving people an excuse to get outside during the winter.

"People really enjoy being out and being downtown in the midst of all the shops and restaurants and then being able to do some outdoor skating which obviously a lot of people don't get the opportunity to do," said Rummel.  

Parks and operations says this year there won't be COVID-19 restrictions.

"We have averaged about 300 a session, but there are sessions on busy nights if the weather cooperates you know we can get anywhere from 500 to 600 people in any given two-hour session" added Rummel.

'Skate at the Park' is the only outdoor ice skating rink in the Pikes Peak region. The rink opens tomorrow here at acacia park and won't close until January. 

To see the calendar of themed nights, hours of operations, and for more information, click here.