Downtown Ice Rink Planned for Vacant Lot

Staff of the village and park district in Clarendon Hills are partnering to put up an ice rink downtown.

Village of Clarendon Hills community development director Dan Ungerleider said this week he was working on an agreement with the owner of the property at 1923 Walker Ave., the large, open space behind Scapa Italian Kitchen, that would allow the Clarendon Hills Park District to put up a temporary ice-skating rink in an effort to attract residents downtown. 

"It just seems like a natural fit," Ungerleider said.

Village manager Randy Recklaus commended Ungerleider's idea at Monday's village board meeting.

"It will be a fun thing that is also helpful to downtown," Recklaus said.

The park district, which puts up similar skating rinks during the winter at Prospect Park and Hosek Park, would need only a day or two to assemble the rink after the village reaches its agreement and takes care of grading, superintendent of parks Michael Fletcher said.

The rink would be approximately 90 feet by 110 feet. Fletcher said the rink would be lit and there will be picnic tables where users can put on and take off their skates. 

"One teeny tiny issue," Village President Tom Karaba said Monday when the idea was introduced. "The weather."

Indeed, the rink would need three to five days of temperatures below freezing to be usable, Fletcher said.