In the middle of the heat and humidity of suburban summertime, officials at Arlington Heights village hall and park district headquarters are already thinking cooler thoughts for an outdoor ice skating rink that would be installed downtown this winter.
The 40-by-80-foot mechanically-chilled rink is being eyed for Eastman Street between Arlington Heights Road and Evergreen Avenue — just south of North School Park, site of the annual tree lighting and holiday decorations.
“We thought that it had tremendous synergy with the tree-lighting ceremony,” said Village Manager Randy Recklaus. “That event already looks like a Norman Rockwell painting, and it could look even more like that.”
It’s the same block where the Metropolis Performing Arts Centre staged performances within a 40-by-90-foot tent in 2021 during the pandemic. The village extended electricity from the nearby parking garage to the street level at that time, so that could be done again to power the chiller that creates the ice surface, officials said.
Costs — at least for a phase one pilot project — are expected to be “minimal,” such as $15,000 to power the site, according to Public Works Director Cris Papierniak.
The Arlington Heights Park District would rent the ice rink, chilling system and a leveling platform, and be responsible for staffing and operating the rink. The district would collect user fees and sponsorships to offset its costs, Recklaus said.
Terms of an intergovernmental agreement outlining all the responsibilities and costs are still being negotiated, but could be considered by the village board and park board as soon as late July or early August.
Both local governments were on parallel paths: Mayor Jim Tinaglia was looking for space in the downtown to add the ice rink attraction, while park leaders sought to move away from their half dozen or so natural ice rinks to a fewer number of artificially-chilled ones.
They looked at other sites, including Harmony Park — deemed to be too costly — and two village parking lots near the train station, but the Eastman site “became the most logical selection,” Tinaglia said.
If one rink for skating is successful this winter, officials said they may consider adding another rink next to it for hockey in future years. They’ve also bandied about whether Eastman should be closed to street traffic on occasion or all the time, and whether a roof structure or pavilion should be installed over the rink to create a permanent plaza.
“This is an open space that could be used for some really great community events and bring some activity to the north side of Northwest Highway, which some of the restaurants and places over there would really appreciate,” Tinaglia said.
For now, the mayor wants one rink to be up and running by the Nov. 27 tree lighting, and be operational through February.
“It’s really a stepping stone,” he said.
