At 815 feet long and 20 feet wide, the Central Park ice loop, which opened in November, is the only refrigerated ice trail in Minnesota. The idea for the project was based on other ice ovals around the metro area, but the idea of an ice loop came all the way from Elkhart, Indiana. “We just played with the idea, with what we could afford, and how big we wanted it to be,” says Chuck Stifter, superintendent of Maple Grove parks and planning.
The lighted ice trail is open from 4–9:30 p.m. during the week and 10 a.m.–9:30 p.m. on weekends, and will be open until mid-March, weather pending. Entry is free and skates can be rented for $6. A Zamboni is used to groom the ice, so, despite potential warm spells, the loop will be maintained, unlike all-natural ice rinks. Skaters on the trail can defrost in the public warming house where concessions are available. “It really adds that multi-seasonal dimension to Central Park, which is what the park board was trying to achieve when originally envisioning the park,” Stifter says.
