HOLLAND, MI – Holland officials are aiming to build and open an outdoor, public ice skating rink by the end of 2023.
Holland City Manager Keith Van Beek said the hope is to start construction on the rink at Window on the Waterfront Park near downtown in summer 2023, with the rink opening at least in part later that year.
The city is working with a consultant to finalize designs and project costs. Van Beek said at this time he doesn’t want to disclose a working estimate for the construction cost.
However, he said, it will cost more than the just over $1.1 million donated to the project by Frank Kraai, a retired local teacher who has dreamed of bringing an ice skating facility to Holland for everyone to experience.
Fundraising on the project will begin later this year, in the summer and fall.
The city unveiled the preliminary rink designs and concept to the public during an open house last week.
Preliminary designs call for a circular ice rink that is 100 feet in diameter with a 600-foot-long ribbon of ice that trails from the rink and then reconnects with it.
City officials say the rink, which will be resurfaced with a Zamboni, will be large enough to accommodate about 100 skaters.
Preliminary designs also call for a curling rink and public gathering spot near the ice rink and additional improvements to Window on the Waterfront Park, which is located at 85 East 6th St.
Like the public ice skating rink at Rosa Parks Circle in Grand Rapids, the Holland rink will be refrigerated so it won’t be weather dependent. Van Beek said there should be about three to four months of good skating each winter.
The Grand Rapids rink draws about 40,000 skaters during a regular season.
Van Beek said a public ice skating park has long been a dream in the city. The location chosen for the rink will complement downtown and be the crown jewel of the park, he said.
While rink operations are still being worked out, Van Beek anticipates that people will be able to rent skates and that the city will have programs to support people, especially young people, unable to afford rentals.
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