WICKER PARK — Eager to bring an ice skating rink to Wicker Park's namesake park, volunteers have crowd-sourced just under $18,500 for the project.
But if more money and extra hands to help maintain the "WickerICE" rink don't come though by Oct. 15, the project could be shelved until next winter, organizers warn.
"It's an old fashioned challenge; that's what it is. Everyone chipping in," said the WickerICE committee's coordinator, Doug Wood, who likened the effort to a barn raising, a rural practice where an entire community builds a barn together.
In the works since March, the plan to build a community-funded ice rink got the blessing of the Chicago Park District, who agreed to permit the creation of an outdoor public ice rink that organizers estimate will cost $30,000 using Elk Grove Village-based vendor Iron Sleet.
As of Monday, 43 people or groups — including the Wicker Park Bucktown Special Service Area Taxpayer District No. 33, which kicked in $5,000 — have raised $18,483 toward a $30,000 goal, according to the rink's GoFundMe campaign.
Contribute here: www.gofundme.com/wickerice
As an additional way to give money, Wood said he can be reached by email to arrange a check pickup.
Wood said that of the 900 people who responded to an online survey about the rink last spring, about 500 indicated that they would be willing to donate money to the rink, which would be free and offer public open skating and recreational hockey.
"If everyone would donate $25, we'd have enough money but it's not just money. If we don't have enough people volunteering to maintain it, than it won't happen either," Wood said.
When asked how many volunteers are needed to keep the rink going, Wood said the approximately 15-member committee is working on figuring out that number, as it depends on how much snow comes this winter because the snow would need to be removed.
Brian Culliton, the Wicker ICE's committee's co-chairman 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.
Outside of a smattering of private ice rinks, there are just eight free outdoor rinks in Chicago Park District parks.
Wood said a deadline of Oct. 15 to raise the money was established because the committee needs to let Iron Sleet know by then if they are going to buy the approximately 185-foot-long by 85-foot-wide non-refrigerated rink that would be open— weather permitting — from late November through early March. (NHL rinks are 200-feet by 85-feet).
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 at 1425 N. Damen Ave. offers a softball field, basketball courts, playground and a dog area.
For more information on the Wicker Park Advisory Council and the rink, visit the group's website or email Wood to get involved.
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