Well, it was fun while it lasted. People hardly had time to come up with a few “whatever happened to global warming?” quips before the wintry scenario of the past three weeks faded in the face of 40-degree days. But that was still more than Oak Park and River Forest outside skating enthusiasts have enjoyed the past two years.
Over each of the two previous winters, park commissioners in River Forest and Oak Park routinely asked staff how preparations were going for outdoor ice skating. And both years the two executive directors, River Forest’s Tom Grundin and Oak Park’s Gary Balling, routinely replied, “We’re ready when the weather’s ready.”
The weather, though, was never quite ready, with temperatures seldom dipping below the freezing mark, let alone into single digits.
That all changed with the late January/early February sustained cold snap. Outdoor ice skating rinks were “down and running,” so to speak, in both villages the past two weeks. River Forest’s Willard Bowl rink in Consitution Park has seen regular use by figure skaters and hockey players. Over at Longfellow Park in Oak Park, the two concrete tennis courts support a thinner, smaller oval of ice.
Oak Park actually has two rinks-at Taylor Park and Longfellow-but the Taylor Park ice is laid down on soft ground. The cement rink at Longfellow holds the water better and allows faster freezing.
Skating hours at the lighted Longfellow rink last until 10 p.m. each evening, when the park closes. Unlike Oak Park, River Forest has no indoor skating facility, so the hours at Constitution are more regulated to accommodate both figure skaters and hockey players, who mix about as well as, well, figure skaters and hockey players. But whoever is on the ice, the park’s lights go on at 5 p.m. each day, and stay on until closing time at 10 p.m.
All work in order to play
Before any fun can begin, there’s some long, cold work to be done. Mike Grandy, the Park District of Oak Park’s superintendent of Buildings and Grounds, said staff there started pouring water on the two Longfellow tennis courts around 9 p.m., Feb. 5, working through to the next morning when they were relieved by other staff. Within two days, they had a functional skating rink.
The Constitution Park rink, a large, circular rink located at the northwest corner of the park, has been in operation about the same amount of time. The problem with creating a skating surface at Willard, with its soil base, is the need for five days of freezing weather to allow the ground there to solidify sufficiently to allow water to be poured on it without being absorbed. It then takes at least two days to lay down a four-inch base of ice.
“If you do it before the ground freezes, then you’re just pouring water into a sponge,” said Grundin. River Forest used to utilize a liner for the roughly 160 x 200-foot rink, but the bulk and weight of the liner after use became too much to deal with.
Once the ice is created it needs to stay cold enough so the ice doesn’t start melting.
The problem early last week wasn’t warm weather, but heavy snow that kept park district workers busy removing tons of the white stuff from the park district’s many paths, sidewalks and lots.
“Our maintenance personnel were bombarded with snow-removal work,” said the park district’s Mary Dominquez. By Thursday afternoon, after the 30,000-square-foot surface had been blown and shoveled clear, Walter Gaynor and Manuel Guzman pushed a small hand-held ice-conditioning device hooked up to a 200-foot hose around the rink. It takes around 90 minutes to lay down a thin layer of water and smooth out the surface for that day’s skaters.
And people definitely were lacing up skates and taking advantage.
“So far the response has been strong,” said Grundin, who estimates some 20-30 people are on the ice at any given time.
Grandy said it’s been difficult to remove the deep snow off the ice at Taylor Park, so it hasn’t been maintained well. The ice at Longfellow was cleared and recoated daily and experienced lots of use.
Just after 5 p.m., Friday Tim Moran was out on the Willard ice with sons Riley, 7, and Kelly, 5. Dad skated easily back and forth as the boys chased after a puck, struggling unsuccessfully to keep their feet.
“We’re playing a little scrimmage,” Kelly said.
Tim said he could go to the Oak Park rink with the boys, but likes the openness of the Willard Bowl.
“Playing outside is awesome, right guys?” he said to the boys.
“Yeeeah,” they replied in unison.
The cold spell is petering out, though, and the Morans will need to head over to Ridgeland Commons to skate this week. Daytime temperatures, which just poked their heads above the freezing level for the first time this week, are now above 40 degrees. Monday morning, the ice at the southeast corner of the Longfellow rink looked distressingly thin. By Tuesday morning, the rink ice was all but gone.
The Consitution Park ice is thicker than the Longfellow ice, but ultimately just as vulnerable.
“We’re worried about those 40s,” said Grundin.