OMG I am sooo jealous!!! I will have to get a photo of our rink when it re-opens in another week, then you will understand why.

Most of the pictures here look like the sorts of rink I see only in my dreams.

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Karen

I skate - therefore I am

Not really; don't forget you might accidentally take a photo of someone under 18 without their parents' permission.... and in today's climate, that's a huge no-no!

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Mrs Redboots
~~~~~~~~
I love my computer because my friends live in it!
Ice dancers have lovely big curves!

I find that restriction in the UK to be unbelievably broad - broad enough to limit perfectly legitimate activities in everyday situations. I understand the
purpose of such a restriction, but I'd wager that it has little effect on the problem itself while turning ordinary citizens into suspects.

Private rinks in the US can individually make rules like that, but if they're open to the public, the rules are probably unenforcable in a legal challenge. It's different if an event is closed to the general public and there exists an "expectation of privacy".

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Bill Schneider

The Dispatch Ice Haus attached to the Nationwide Arena is a modern rink with clean facilities. It is the official practice rink of the Columbus Blue Jackets professional hockey team, so the public skate hours are irregularly offered. It is managed by Chiller LLC, and it's public skating hours can be found posted on the web together with the other Chiller rinks.

http://www.thechiller.com

Unfortunately for the past two summers, it has been closed to the public except for special events like the popular Skate for Hope charity show. I hope that it's open this summer, but it probably won't be given recent history.


(Picture of the Dispatch Ice House linked from their own site)

Here's a later picture taken in 2008:


What's Nice:
BIG windows along one wall with a view to the outside. Nice natural light!
Clean.
Some of the best ice maintanence I've experienced.
Free parking in an attached parking garage if you get your ticket stamped at the desk.
The Arena District is home to many fine restaurants and other entertainment venues for after skating activities.
Plenty of warm windowed seating for spectators.
Public sessions are often lightly attended, especially at noon. Last time there, I shared the ice with two other skaters for the last hour of a public session. It essentially became a freestyle session with all of us practicing moves, jumps, spins, etc.

Gripes:
Limited and erratically offered public sessions.
It's been closed for the past two summers. (Grrr! It's the closest rink to me other than my seasonal home rink.)
I'm unaware of freestyle sessions being held there (but see comments about public sessions above.

Dispatch Ice Haus
Nationwide Arena
200 W. Nationwide Blvd.
Columbus, Ohio 43215
614-246-3380

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Bill Schneider

Yes but you could do that anytime when taking a photo. England has got way to "politically correct" in my oppinion.

Mine, too. You barely dare say "Hi" to an unrelated child these days.... poor kids!

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Mrs Redboots
~~~~~~~~
I love my computer because my friends live in it!
Ice dancers have lovely big curves!

The whole photo/video thing has gone way too far in my opinion. It got to the point during our ice show that we were unsure where we stood if we wanted to video own kids. Of course we had a professional video done but in a group of 40 kids, what's the chance of them catching your own? In the end it was agreed that we could video our own kids providing we had paid for the professional video and we had sought the manager's permission as well as being a parent of a club member. So any grandparents, aunts or uncles were basically unable to take video. Crazy!

Nicki

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www.myspace.com/insatiableskater

Same rink, different teacher!

http://streathamicearena.co.uk/pro_hailston.htm

Clare

Great thread! I skate at two rinks (the only two rinks in Louisville).

1. Alpine Ice Arena
http://www.alpineicearena.com/index.html
I love this rink. It's old, family-run, and feels like home (probably because I practically lived there as a pre-teen/teenager). I take my lessons at this rink. It's mostly ISI for figure skating, but there is a USFS club also. There are no freestyle/club sessions. Lessons are on public ice. Sessions cost $6. The rink was created in the early 60s, and was outdoor in the beginning. By the time I started skating there (in the mid-80s), it was almost all enclosed, and now it's entirely enclosed. It's a seasonal rink, running maybe Sept. through April. It could use some updating (and the bathrooms are a little scary, but I think all rink bathrooms are), and zamming a little more often would help. But the people are friendly and the atmosphere is comfortable and fun. I also really like the ice at this rink - it's not too soft, but not too brittle.

2. Iceland
http://www.skatelouisville.org/index.html (This is the club website; the rink doesn't have one.)
Here is a link to a photo of the rink, since there isn't one on the site: http://i51.photobucket.com/albums/f395/morgail/13-1.jpg
This rink is much newer. I think it's about 10 years old now. It has two sheets of ice - one intended for hockey and one for figure skating. Public sessions land on both, depending on which one is free. The USFSA club is very active, and there are several club sessions to skate on ($10 for an hour). Public sessions are $6. Because it's not as old, it seems cleaner to me. Bathrooms are bigger, and the lobby is spacious. There is an upstairs that has a view of the figure skating rink (though I've never been up there). This rink is year-round, but has a tendency to randomly cancel public sessions. I don't get the "home" vibe I get at my other rink, but the people are nice enough.

Other rinks that aren't too far away:
-Lexington Ice Center (Lexington, KY) - http://lexingtonicecenter.com/
I did some ISI comps there as a kid. I remember it being nice, and located in the middle of a subdivision.
-Hamilton Center (Columbus, IN) - http://hamiltoncenter.net/
A dual-ice sheet rink. I skated there one summer and remember it being nice.

ETA: Here is a link to a photo of the figure skating rink at Iceland: http://i51.photobucket.com/albums/f3...mespinning.jpg
I don't have a picture of the inside of Alpine, but you can find a few on the website (under Special Olympics, I think).

Which is a seriously flattering picture of him - wonder how long ago it was taken!

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Mrs Redboots
~~~~~~~~
I love my computer because my friends live in it!
Ice dancers have lovely big curves!

Last night's (7-9pm) rink was the Roosevelt Park Family Ice Rink in Edison, NJ. (Just below the Menlo Park Mall.) It's a small, county-run seasonal rink. The location is beautiful - it's set on a little pond that sparkles next to the ice. Loverly. Not expensive - $5 for the public session; or buy a multi-session pass: $20/5 sessions, $40/10, $115/30. Very reasonable.

The ice surface is smaller than most rinks, but the ice was being cut really well when I arrived. (Electric resurfacer, I think.) It was chopped up within an hour, but the session was pretty crowded for the size of the rink, so that's to be expected. The guards made a huge figure skating area with the cones. Later on, they coned off one end of the rink for an ADULT BEGINNER GROUP lesson that started at 8pm. (It's an ISI WeSkate program. $98 for 7 half-hour lessons.)

The place was incredibly clean and sanitary, from the rubber floors to the immaculate (ladies) bathroom, right down to the snack area. The snack bar had nothing fancy on the menu, just hot dogs, pretzels, and pizza. However, it was clean and the ladies working there were friendly.

I wore hard guards to walk around in because the outdoor areas had carpeting and some exposed metal drainage hardware.

Their rental skates are very good, although they had eyelets only with nylon laces, so no one really had well-tied skates. Lots of floppy puppies on the ice. There were quite a few hockey wanna-bes, but the guards kept them in check. (I did know one of the guards, so I may have gotten some preferential treatment.)

All in all, a very nice way to end the night.

It is a seasonal rink - the season is Nov 22, 2006 through April 1, 2007.
The skating schedule is HERE on their home page.

In addition to the public sessions, they have freestyles on Wednesdays and Thursdays from 4-5pm. I believe the freestyles are sponsored by a skating club, so they're not published on the web. They are on the printed schedule you can pick up at the rink. It's $13 for drop-ins, less if you buy the pass. (5/$55, 10/$110, 15/$155) The guard said they get a lot of adults on the freestyle sessions.

BTW, NO HOCKEY at this rink. Also, no hockey lines or circles. Plain ol' white ice.

What I Like:
The location, cleanliness and family atmosphere.

Things to Improve:
Add some evening freestyles for adult figure skaters. (I counted five on the ice last night.)
Wish the ice surface was larger, but that's not going to happen.

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I skate at 2 different rinks:

Ashburn Ice House (www.ashburnice.com)

Likes: Generally very nice ice. Lots of benches. Relatively warm (even on the coldest days we've had so far this winter). Also has a very good pro shop with a really good skate technician.

Dislikes: The ladies bathroom (can't comment on the men's). It is often untidy and has an odor (I think the plumbing isn't venting correctly).


Skatequest Reston (www.skatequest.com)

Likes: Hard fast ice. Debit card system for paying for freestyle sessions

Dislikes: Coldest rink in area, I think. Not very many benches.

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American Waltz... Once, Twice, ???? ...

Q: How many coaches does it take to fix Jen's Dance Intro-3 Problems
A: 5 and counting...

My favorite coach from when I was a teenager taught at Hamilton Center for a little while in the mid-90s. I visited it a couple of times and remember it being pretty nice, too.

Coralridge Ice Arena, Coralville (Iowa City), Iowa.
http://www.coralridgeice.com/
http://www.hawkeyeskating.org/html/m...embership.html

This is a nice rink that manages to comine figure skating, hockey and public skating needs. It is inside a mall, right next to the food court, so there are often onlookers, but it is a bit off set, so you don't get the "bustle" of the mall environment. It's also usually quite warm because of its location.

Pros: Full size surface, allows figure skating practice and lessons on public ice. Public sessions are usually uncrowded enough that you can get some practice in, and I've seen kids run programs during family skates. There is a freestyle session every morning (alas, not early enough to go before work) and 4 afternoons a week (also, not late enough to go afterwork) and a saturday morning freestyle. There are 2 days for club ice in the evenings. Good LTS program, they just switched to USFSA, including adult classes, adult friendly instructors in regular classes, and adult synchro. There is a LONG public skate everyday, and a"family" skate one evening. There is a lot of hockey time, but figure skating is not shunted aside for it. The rink is kept clean. There are 3 large benches to change skates, but that is not always enough room. There are small coin lockers, but most skaters leave their things on the benches. Bathrooms are close to the rink. Rink staff is friendly, but there are no ice guards. Public ice is $6 (for up to a 4 hour session), Freestyle is $9 for an hour, club ice is $4 for an hour and the club gets $1 off public and $2 off freestyle prices. They do accept credit cards.

The biggest pro is that when there are holidays they build freestyle into the holiday schedule instead of doing all public or all hockey. Over the new years holiday they had a figure skating artistry 3-day workshop. I appreciate that a little rink in Iowa has managed to attract some pretty decent coaches and is willing to use the ice for this purpose instead of lucrative public skating time.

Cons: No pro shop- although the club has started selling things like guards and tights, and the rink has started carrying Jacksons. There is no pro sharpener either, although two of the coaches are recommended for figure skaters- at while I was in basics/freestyle 1 the counter guys did just fine too. The bathrooms aren't always the cleanest, and it seems like the toilets are too low- might just be that I'm taller with skates on. The ice is sometimes just flooded rather than cut (I think) so while the surface is fresh, its sometimes uneven with deep ruts.

Overall, it's a wonderful home rink that is very friendly and promotes figure skating, but definetly not a serious training center.

__________________
-Jessi
What I need is a montage...
Visit my skating journal or my Youtube videos (updated with 2 new videos Sept 26, 2009)

The Ohio State University Ice Rink is located a few miles north of downtown Columbus, Ohio. (NOTE: Don't get Ohio STATE University In Columbus confused with Ohio University in Athens. The similarity in names causes all sorts of confusion!)

I've skated there a few dozen times, and this rink is active in testing and hosting competitions. I was a club member (a long distance relationship!) before our local rink started it's own skating club. OSU Ice Rink is where I've done all my testing.

I believe the rink is the oldest one in the Columbus area, but it's maintained nicely. A recent remodeling a couple of summers ago makes it fairly bright inside even though it has no windows onto the ice. While I like warmer ice, the OSU rink's ice is often VERY soft right after an ice cut. For the first 15-minutes, it feels like my skates may be very rusty - no glide (almost like parking brakes are dragging).

There are some public sessions reserved for adults that are often lightly attended. There are other sessions that seem VERY busy, but it depends on season and the time the session is offered.

OSU Ice Rink's web site provides public session times:

http://www.ohiostatebuckeyes.com/Vie...&ATCLID=925270

I've seen lessons conducted on light public sessions as well during freestyle sessions. However the Columbus Figure Skating Club rents freestyle ice from the rink, so freestyle schedules are maintained by the club (not the rink):

http://www.columbusfsc.com/

A "secret weapon" at this rink is Duke Johnson, the rink manager. He is well-known in the area as an experienced skate fitter and blade sharpener. I drive 80 miles to this rink for skate purchases because of Duke. His schedule varies, so be advised to call ahead to see if Duke will be there when you visit.

Restroom (men's - only one I've seen) is small and didn't benefit from the recent rennovation. Could be better, but not terrible.

The lobby is large with plenty of benches for all but the busiest public session. I LOVE the old wooden benches with high backs, partly because the ends have silhouettes of skaters carved into them. You won't find that old-world craftsmanship in modern rinks.

Parking can be troublesome - and the OSU rink's web site offers some suggestions for coping. (For example, never park at a spot with a meter. Metered parking is enforced year-round). The rink can sell a parking pass too, according to their web site. I usually just take my chances, and so far so good.

Nice rink, and an active club associated with it.

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Bill Schneider

This was an accidental find - a coworker mentioned that Secaucus, NJ has a seasonal ice rink. Took some detective work, but I found it and went there today. No website, but here's the arenamaps.com link. Schedule: M-F: 3-5,7:30-9:30pm; SS: 1:30-3:30, 4:30-6:30, 7:30-9:30pm. Public Session cost was $3; no figure skating sessions. PARKING is a problem - park in the basketball court behind the rink or at a meter. (I can't imagine running out in my skates to put in quarters, though.)

It's a covered outdoor rink; they put up some tarps to keep out the weather a bit. Ice was well-groomed and a bit soft, although I found it odd to step UP onto the ice. Helps with drainage, I guess. Today's damp weather created a nice artic fog - it was fun watching people disappear. Total of 7 people on the ice; 4 beginners, 3 adults and 1 figure skater. The figure skater was very good, btw. She must skate somewhere else as well.

The changing building is a bit old, not really clean, but everything was in working order. There were towels and soap in the bathroom and the newish fixtures worked fine. Only two stalls in the Ladies' room, though. I can imagine the lines during a crowded session.

The rubber matting outdoors has missing tiles close to the rink walls so bring your hard guards!

They have group LTS lessons for Secaucus children only. I asked about skating lessons for adults and, well, he's a really nice hockey guy. Gave me a blank look when I asked about Moves in the Field. Still, very friendly and nice.

What I Liked:
Inexpensive, empty ice, friendly people.
Well-groomed ice, not too hard.
Lots of places to eat nearby.

Things to Improve:
Clean up the flooring, update the restrooms.
Parking access.

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Out of town and desperately seeking ice time. . .

The setting of this place is gorgeous. While I skated, dh got just a teeny bit of time (before the sky opened up and poured rain) to walk on the beach, right on Lake Champlain.

Nice and uncrowded rink. One surface plus a studio rink that looks to be down for the summer. Rinks that have summer ice can be hard to find in VT/NH!! There were only about half a dozen skaters on the ice, and 50-min sessions were ongoing from 6:30 am to 2 pm (yay!). I just took in one session. Only gripe was that the ice was poorly maintained. They did do an ice make after every 2 sessions, but it must have been quick & shallow, because (1) it was bumpy in many spots and (2) there were those characteristic "ah, I see where the previous sessions' skaters skated" ruts here and there, indicating that they simply slapped down a quick bit of water and didn't really scrape well or whatever they do.

Still, a fun experience. One coach was working with a young guy--maybe early teens?--who had a super cantilever & hydroblade, nice 2axel, getting there with a triple jump or two, and great, powerful footwork and lots of great energy and presentation. I was both applauding (inwardly) and whining with jealousy.

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"Go wash an elephant if you wanna do something big." -Baby Gramps

I love this rink--they hold a competition every summer with a number of adult events (unfortunately not always well attended these days) that I used to go to. The adult skater who does a lot of the work on the competition is really nice and the area is fabulous. There are some pretty high level kids--boys, I think, so maybe one of the ones you saw--competing out of this club that I remember seeing years ago at the competition when they were tiny--I think they were twins.

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You miss 100% of the shots you never take.--Wayne Gretzky

Skatequest Dale City, VA
Two rinks--one for hockey, the other for public skate and freestyle.
Bright, clean facilities, very active public skate. Bleachers. Snack bar.
The skaters have been tough on the ladies room. Lots of toepick gouges. Ice is consistently mediocre. Lots of drips from the ceiling forming little vertical icicles. Heavily attended public skate. Freestyle sessions.

Capital Clubhouse, Waldorf, MD
This is a public rink inside a large recreational facility that include an aerobics center, some kind of street hockey facility, rock climbing. Snack bar. I don't remember any bleachers. Excellent pro shops (two!)
Public skate every two hours during the day; I've had the rink to myself several times. Freestyle sessions. A great place to go with a group. Hard, consistent clean ice.

Fredericksburg Ice Park, Fredericksburg, VA
Small town ice rink. Hockey keeps it open. But the rink has an active figure skating program that includes rhythmic skating and theater on ice. Very active in ISI competitions. Snack bar on weekends. 2 Freestyle sessions daily. No pro shop although the rink manager will sharpen your skates. Clean facility. Very much a family atmosphere fostered by regulars. No bleachers. Senior citizens rates. Also, this rink has hands down the absolute best Santa on skates in the world.

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Great forum quotes:
On Falling: '...it doesn't matter, it's what you do AFTER you fall that's more important' ISK8NYC

Was there on Friday, practicing for testing in a month. They had just put in their summer ice that week so it was quite smooth. I was just about the only one on the ice for the public session; intermittently there were a few kids & teens goofing around, but mostly it looked like a few people were eagerly awaiting the stick & puck session that followed the public. Just one sheet of ice, but it's up nearly year-round, which is kind of unusual for this part of the country.

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"Go wash an elephant if you wanna do something big." -Baby Gramps

I skated a public session today at the South Charleston Memorial Ice Arena. I asked about freestyle hours and found that they are offered mostly in the late afternoon and evening in the summer. PLENTY of hours are offered (much more than my home rink), but the freestyle schedule varies from week to week.

I was also impressed with the amount of public skating time offered. On the Friday that I visited, there were 2-hour sessions offered back-to-back 4 times. The session that I attended (12:15-2:15 on a Friday) was lightly attended with about 12 people on the ice average. The session that started after the ice cut had only 2 people on the ice when I left.

With all the time alloted to figure skating and public skating, it made me wonder when (if) hockey fits in. (Well, isn't that a pleasant turn of events!?)

The rink is newish and clean. I especially liked the fireplace in the lobby area, although it wasn't operating when I visited (August, duh!). I'll bet it's nice in winter though. I didn't ask about freestyle costs, but the 2-hour public skate was $5.

There's an arcade area where non-skating teenagers can insert coins and pass their time and money.

Here are some pictures:







They do not have a web site, but the phone number is 304-744-4423.

South Charleston Memorial Ice Arena
20 RHL Blvd
Charleston, WVa 25309

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Bill Schneider

OMG!!! I am so jealous!! This rink is GORGEOUS. You should see the facilities and I use that term loosely that I skate at!! Belive me I'm grateful for what I've got but... COME ON!! This is beautiful and cheap. One of the rinks I skate at is $10 or $11 for a two hour session on uneven ice. And the other one I skate at I think for a public is about the same. OMG.

Let's not even get into what I pay for a freestyle at these 'facilities'.