The City of Columbia and Magic Ice USA are bringing an outdoor ice skating rink to Boyd Plaza.
/ Zoheb Hassanali
COLUMBIA (WACH) - Midlands residents will soon be getting a new way to work off some of the Thanksgiving Day calories.
The City of Columbia and Magic Ice USA are bringing an outdoor ice skating rink to Boyd Plaza. It is the first outdoor ice skating rink in the city's history. Workers began freezing the rink and installing ice on Monday.
The rink is located in front of the Columbia Museum of Art. It opens Thanksgiving Day offering free skating for the holiday. It will give the community an outdoor activity while creating a much cooler Columbia.
Ice Technician Johnny Ingram said keeping the rink cold in the sunny, mild Columbia weather will be a little more challenging than in northern cities.
"We set our chiller for about zero degrees so that it is really cold," Ingram said. "Our floor temp can stay down. When we flood, we try to just do light layers so that we are not overwhelming the system. So that it gets too warm to stay frozen. Come on out, skate and have fun."
Ingram said there will be areas for the public to keep personal items safe. The rink will be open until January 6, 2013.
