HOLLAND, Mich. — It has been one year since Holland began construction of its new ice rink.
City leaders are inching closer to determining the park's costs for rentals and a potential liquor license.
"It looks like it's coming along nicely. Hard to get a picture with all the dirt and everything," Ryan Chapin said.
Chapin was out on a walk with his dog near Holland, where the city is building its new Ice Park, the latest outdoor feature.
"We're looking forward to it. We heard it was coming last year, and just looking forward to next winter," Chapin added.
Winter is far off as Michigan prepares for summer, but the city is already sharpening up to be ready for the season.
"Sheer excitement and anticipation for the Ice Park that we've been working on for years here in the City of Holland," Holland City Manager Keith Van Beer said.
On Wednesday, the city commission discussed the park's future.
"We can guarantee that it will be a great experience for people that come out and use the Ice Park," Van Beek added.
In this discussion, they talked about pricing, like skating for an hour and a half of ice time, and considered allowing 150 skaters out at any given time.
"$10 would potentially be the price that not only reserves your ice time, but also it gets you skate rental," Van Beek said.
What was not discussed was pricing for the one curling area. Staff did look at six other venues around the Midwest. As they explained, those venues are in high demand.
"I've heard that there were sheets that were not anything comparable to this, that were going for more than $100 an hour. We're not going to be in that territory again. This is to manage and provide a good experience to people, not to really generate this big revenue source," Van Beek said.
The city manager added that prices are not yet set for any ice park experience.
"Council has not had a recommendation or an exact final price," Van Beek said.
They also discussed whether or not to include this park in the social zone and a potential liquor license.
"We're focused on making this a great experience for the citizens and for the visitors to Holland," Van Beek said.
The city hopes to have construction completed in early August and then open the park in November.
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