Grand Rapids Downtown Development Authority Approves Public Skating At Van Andel
Holiday ice skating in Grand Rapids is most likely moving from Rosa Parks Circle to Van Andel Arena for the 2021-22 season.
Rosa Parks Circle is currently undergoing renovation and due to logistics problems, the popular ice skating destination will not be open to the public this winter. Rosa Parks Circle was originally supposed to be finished with renovations earlier this year but the opening has been pushed back several times. And now that the opening is being pushed into 2022, the city has purposed a new venue for holiday ice skating.
Van Andel Arena is set to host holiday ice skating for the public this winter if it gets fully approved by the city.
The Grand Rapids Downtown Development Authority has approved moving funds that would normally facilitate ice skating at Rosa Parks Circle to the Van Andel Arena. $40,000 is being allocated to Van Andel to pay for costs related to staffing, security, maintenance, etc. to facilitate skating for the public.
Now, the Grand Rapids City Commission needs to approve its portion of the funding to allow the venue to host public ice skating. If approved at a meeting on December 14th, Van Andel Arena will begin to schedule open ice skating days for the end of this year and the beginning of 2022.
The arena rental fee is being waved by the Grand Rapids-Kent County Convention/Arena Authority, but the overall cost of hosting ice skating in the arena will come at a cost of about $4,000-5,000 for every 3 hours of skating.
There is no word on the cost to the public to skate in the arena, but it is assumed that it will be similar to admission and skate rental prices during previous years at Rosa Parks Circle.