WICKER PARK — About a dozen Wicker Park residents met up at 7 a.m. Saturday to begin building the neighborhood's first community ice rink.
The reward for their hard work came at 11:30 a.m., when a local Chicago Fire Department outfit came out and flooded the rink, as about 40 park-goers and neighbors cheered them on.
"It's very exciting," said Mike Kupfer, Bucktown resident and member of the Wicker Park ice rink committee, WickerICE. "To see the community coming together, it's nice to see."
The brief moment of celebration as firefighters poured water into the 60-foot-by-120-foot rink was the culmination of months of hard work put in by neighbors who wanted some winter-time activities in the neighborhood.
Dope pic.twitter.com/jjVaaim8Vo
— Joe Ward (@JayDubWard) December 5, 2015
That's because the idea for the rink originated with a nearby neighbor, who with the help of Ald. Joe Moreno (1st) formed a committee to look into building a rink. The group then raised well over $30,000 for the rink, enough funding for its first year in 2015 and for next year's rink.
That was about six months ago, volunteers said. Now, a large portion of the field at Wicker Park, 1425 N. Damen Ave., is taken up by the rink.
"It's been over the top," Moreno said of community support and involvement for the rink. He stopped by Wicker Park Saturday to check in on the group.
"Its a perfect example of when the community and the government, if you will, come together on a project," he said.
Wicker Park's new ice rink is filling up rather quickly. pic.twitter.com/1V3ri37zfA
— Joe Ward (@JayDubWard) December 5, 2015
The volunteers will be setting up a temporary fence while the filled-up rink freezes, which will take at least five days, volunteers said. The WickerICE committee will meet next week to start devising a plan on how to staff and keep up the rink for the winter.
Volunteers will be tasked with staffing someone during the ice rink's open hours, and will have to clean the ice every night with only the help of shovels and one hand-held zamboni.
About 80 residents have volunteered to work at the rink this winter, according to the committee.
"It will be interesting," Kupfer said. "I mean, it's all our first times. But we're excited."
An opening date and other information will be posted on the WickerICE Facebook page next week, the group said.
I am very fascinated by this hose spout CFD is using. #WickerPark pic.twitter.com/4kFDEuHL5K
— Joe Ward (@JayDubWard) December 5, 2015
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