Cherry Park welcomes new public ice skating rink

Amid continued frigid temperatures and abundant snow, some Grand Rapids residents are finding the silver lining in the polar vortex with Cherry Park's newly completed ice skating rink. The East Hills Council of Neighbors hosted a Winter Party on January 25 at Cherry Park, located at 725 Cherry St. SE, to celebrate their recently completed rink. They hope the rink will give community members who brave the cold the opportunity to enjoy an urban neighborhood park during the winter months.

"In the winter time you see a lot of your parks full of snow and not being utilized," says Matt Stephens, an East Hills community member who was enjoying the ice rink with his family. "It's a great space to utilize a little better with an ice skating rink or snowman competitions or whatever. It’s a great opportunity all the way around for kids to get out and play a little bit and have some fun."
 
Public skating rinks, which were once popular in Grand Rapids' communities throughout the 1940s, 50s and 60s, fizzled out of popularity in the past few decades. The East Hills Council of Neighbors hopes to return to a time when both ice skating rinks and urban parks were an incredible community resource.
 
"[The park] is an active option for people to participate in a four season neighborhood. Cherry Park is open year round and the ice rink really helps to promote that," says Rachel Lee, an East Hills Council of Neighbors representative.
 
The opportunity to establish the Cherry Park Ice Rink was provided by Friends of Grand Rapids Parks. The rink was built with the sponsorship of neighborhood businesses like Brewery Vivant and Urban Pharm. Individual donors were also encouraged to sponsor the effort and dozens of skates were donated for rental in support of community skating.
 
"It's just another amazing collaboration of how business and neighborhood come together to make something happen for the community," says Lee.
 
John Wiegand is an intern at Rapid Growth Media.
Photos by John Wiegand.