It seems that around this time every year, everyone begins to get bored with winter. Christmas is long gone, the New Year's Eve celebrations are over, we have watched it snow for hours on end, and we just start to feel too cold to go anywhere. How do we kick these winter blues? By making the most of it. Winter is here to stay for a while, and the best way to accept that is to participate in some good old-fashioned snowy fun.
One of the best ways to have fun in winter is by ice skating, and now, with the addition of a new ice rink in downtown Michigan City, you can do just that.
The ice skating rink formerly located in Washington Park has now been moved to downtown Michigan City. It is located on the corner of 5th Street and Pine Street, just a block away from Michigan City's Uptown Arts District.
This is the first year that the ice rink has been outside of Washington Park, and Shannon Eason, the Michigan City Parks and Recreation Department Assistant Superintendent, is happy with moving the ice rink.
"The lake conditions are so bad that it's hard for us to maintain it at Washington Park, and it didn't have enough open days for skating," she shared. "So, this year we moved it into our downtown and made it quite a bit bigger, and we just think that more people will see it and it'll get more exposure. And it'll be easier for us to take care of so it'll be open more often."
The 80' x 130' ice rink is open every day from 5 am to 10 pm, and it is lit daily from dusk until 10 pm. The cost to use the rink is free, but there are no skate rentals available, so you must bring your own equipment. Also, there is parking available for the rink along 5th Street and a parking lot on the corner of 6th and Pine Streets.
Eason believes that the addition of this ice rink downtown will be beneficial to the town of Michigan City.
She said, "We're hoping that it will bring more visitors to our downtown area, what we refer to as our Uptown Arts District. There are a lot of antique stores and boutique shops and resale shops and things of that nature, and the ice rink is only a block away from that area, so we're hoping that skaters might come into the area to ice skate and then also visit some of our local shops."
This ice rink can be great for taking the kids out and teaching them how to skate, getting together with friends for a small game of hockey, or even making a date night out of the activity. Whichever way you decide to use the rink, you will be creating long-lasting memories while laughing and having fun.
If you want to go, but you are not sure if the ice is frozen that day or not, you can either call in to the Ice Skating Hotline at 219-873-1406 extension 369, or you can visit the Park Department's website at www.michigancityparks.com. Ice rink conditions are reported Monday through Friday only.