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Community-Driven 'Wicker Ice' Skating Rink Needs $30K, Local's Sweat Equity

By Alisa Hauser | August 14, 2015 4:53pm | Updated on August 17, 2015 7:49am
 Plans to bring an ice skating rink to Wicker Park are underway.
Wicker Park Ice Rink in Works
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WICKER PARK —   Volunteers and a local alderman eager to bring an ice skating rink to Wicker Park's namesake park were given the green light this week by an operations officer from the Chicago Park District, who agreed to permit the creation of a community-funded and maintained outdoor public ice rink that organizers estimate will cost $30,000.

The approximately 185-foot-long by 85-foot-wide non-refrigerated rink would be open for recreational skating and hockey — weather permitting — from late November through early March in Wicker Park, 1425 N. Damen Ave.

Just south of the CTA Blue Line Damen stop and a few blocks from Bucktown's Churchill Park, an entry point to the elevated Bloomingdale Trail, the park offers a softball field, basketball courts, playground and a dog area.

Outside of a smattering of private ice rinks, there are just eight free outdoor rinks in Chicago Park District parks.

Doug Wood, secretary of the Wicker Park Advisory Council and coordinator of the newly-formed Wicker-ICE Committee, said on Friday he is working on organizing groups centered around three areas: people to install and maintain the rink; donate money and help with fundraising.

Since the rink would be entirely funded and run by volunteers, co-chairman and co-designer Nick Gecan told Our Urban Times, "The ball is in our court. We have to fund it and operate it. We need everyone's help."

About 900 people responded to an online survey to gauge their interest in being part of the project, with 200 of those folks offering to donate money or help to raise money. Another 69 offered to assist with rink maintenance, Wood said.

Designed by Culliton Quinn Landscape Architecture, the rink would be enclosed by four walls, with three of those walls made of 3.5-foot tall boards. A fourth wall would be 2-feet tall.

The rink would be filled by volunteers using a water hydrant on Schiller Street, according to detailed plans and cost estimates.

Brian Culliton, the Wicker ICE's committee's co-chairman and co-designer, told Our Urban Times that the weather might only give skaters 30 days of "skate-able" ice. 

"The rewards of having only a handful of skating days, I believe, outweigh the hard work and commitment needed from the neighborhood," Culliton said.

Culliton, who has lived in Wicker Park since 1997, was so determined to have a local rink for his two sons that he built a small rink in his backyard, he said at a previous meeting in early March.

"The frustration with ice skating in the city where we live is the closest outdoor rink is a 25-minute drive at minimum.  An ice rink in Wicker Park would provide amazing opportunities for our neighborhood kids and longterm memories. It would really be a neighborhood rink and will bring excitement to the area during the long winter months," Culliton said.

Rocio Varela, a staffer in Ald. Moreno's (1st) office is working on putting together a fundraiser for the rink at a local venue in the near future, said Belia Portillo, Moreno's office manager, on Friday.

Moreno and the Wicker Park Bucktown Special Service Area Taxpayer District No. 33 both support the rink.

Wood said that volunteers will need to get a to-do list together to present to Patrick Levar, the Chief Operating Officer of the Park District, within the next month. For their part, the Park District would be responsible for getting the field up to grade-level, as well as installing lighting around the rink, which would enable extended hours of operation.

Jessica Maxey-Faulkner, a Park District spokesman, was not immediately available to comment on the plan on Friday.

Anyone interested in contributing money to the project can do so on the Advisory Council's PayPal page, or local businesses can contact Wood by email to arrange sponsorships on the rink's four walls. Additionally, all advertising profits from ads bought for the upcoming Midnight Circus printed booklet will be directed to the ice rink, Wood said.

 

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