Gainesville might not get snow this holiday season, but it’s getting an ice rink.
In two weeks, Bo Diddley Community Plaza will be transformed into a winter wonderland where Gainesville residents can enjoy ice skating for the first time in five years.
The rink, dubbed Plaza Ice Palace, will open Nov. 23 and run until Jan. 6. Participants can glide from 4 p.m. to 10 p.m. on weekdays and from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. on weekends.
One hour of skating costs $10 per person and includes skate rental. If patrons bring their own skates, admission is $7.
Prior to 2007, the city offered an ice rink on Bo Diddley, but it had to be slashed from the budget because it became unaffordable, said David Ballard, events coordinator for City Parks, Recreation and Cultural Affairs. In the past, he said, companies expected the city to pay large sums up front and to operate the exhibit the whole season.
“The bids for the ice rink were extremely high, and the companies wanted the city to foot all the costs,” Ballard said. “And in difficult budgetary times, that was not something the city could take on.”
Ballard said the owner of Midwest Display, a now-Florida-based company that offers holiday decorations, approached the city this year about ending the thaw on Gainesville ice skating. Ballard said Midwest Display offered its services as a vendor, setting up at its own expense and paying the city a portion of the proceeds at the end.
The ice skating rink will be sponsored by Gainesville Regional Utilities, and electrical utility customers will receive coupon discounts at the rink, said GRU spokeswoman Kendall Litton Jensen.
When GRU customers receive their November and December electric bills, they will find coupons for $2 off per person in each household for up to five people, she said.
Taylor Nones, a 19-year-old UF telecommunication sophomore, said Gainesville’s ice rink will be an unexpected but welcome addition to winter activities available in the city.
“You don’t think of a small town in Florida as having an ice rink,” she said. “I think it’s cool.”
