Thursday, September 13, 2012

Outdoor ice skating in Quincy

 THE QUINCY PARK Board agreed Wednesday to have a Quincy couple operate an outdoor ice rink at Clat Adams Park.

My first reaction is that this is a great idea. I don't know who the couple is but apparently they are from Colorado and want to give it a go. The rink will be built between the bridges in the park, located right next to the Mississippi River.

The ice will be "synthetic," whatever that means. How will it be built? Does the ice need to be cleaned regularly? Is there a roof over this place? Will pickup hockey be allowed?

I'm in favor of any project promoting outdoor activity, and this is a great way to get exercise and have some family fun. Admission will be $2 for kids and $5 per adults, which doesn't seem too bad, but people in Quincy simply don't like to pay for stuff.

How muck are skate rentals? A family of four is forking over $14 for a few hours of afternoon fun, not a bad deal and way cheaper than a movie. Yet my biggest fear is that the novelty will wear off and the owners will struggle.

Quincy has a very small but loyal group of ice skaters. Our window during the winter is only a few weeks for pond hockey. I would hope this group would support such an endeavor, and I will for sure try it out once or twice, but we'll see after that.

I do wish the owners the best of luck, and good for them for bringing something new to the Q-Town.

The rink is scheduled to open Nov. 7. There is a website but it's not functional yet at riverskateqcy.com.


2 comments:

  1. Hi Rodney, thank you for the write up. My wife, Marion (Denckla) Dye, and I, are originally from Quincy. She went to QND ('02) and I went to QHS ('01). We were in Colorado for about 4 years but felt Quincy was the place for us. The children's admission will be $3, not $2 but both adult and kid's admission includes skates. We didn't feel right charging for rental when we knew most people around here wouldn't already have skates. The synthetic ice is actually composed of specially engineered polymers developed by a company out of Clearwater, FL called Synthetic Ice USA. There's no water involved which means no Zamboni and more importantly no need for cold weather at all. We are thinking about offering pick-up hockey but we're still working with our insurance company to see what the extra costs would be. I'll get back to you on that.

    Thanks again!

    -chris

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    1. Thanks Chris, good info and I'm glad you are including the rentals in the admission price. The two media sites I read were inaccurate so my apologies and I'm glad to know you are from Quincy. I am originally from Canada and love to skate and play hockey, so I will definitely be by to give it a try. Peace!

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