Angels in Our Community - The Spectrum Magazine

The Thrill of Skating Outdoors and Indoors
Year-Round in Redwood City
By Julie McCoy, contributing writer
Ice skating is a popular pastime in the winter. If
it happens to be something you enjoy, now is
a great time to lace up and set those blades in
motion. This year, there happen to be two rinks in
Redwood City where you can glide the day away.
Downtown has been transformed into a winter
wonderland with Holiday Skating on the Square,
an outdoor rink right on the Courthouse Square.
There’s also Nazareth Ice Oasis, a year-round indoor
rink that has been in the city for more than 30 years.
Skating on the Square a hit
among people of all ages and abilities
Holiday Skating on the Square — which opened
on Nov. 18 and will continue through Jan. 16 — is sure
to be a hit among people of all ages and abilities.
The rink is open in the afternoon and evening,
and the cost is $10 per person on weekdays and $12
per person on weekends. People can bring their
own skates or get them on-site at no additional cost.
Redwood City resident Christina Ochoa, a
sophomore at Cañada College who loves to skate
and has taken to the ice since she was a little girl,
learned about the rink on Facebook and braved
the rain with her boyfriend, Havier Ayala, to be
there on opening day.
“This is a fresh [rink] and it’s exciting,” said Ochoa,
who has mostly skated indoors. Ayala added that,
“It’s good because [Redwood City has] never had
this.” Ochoa and Ayala plan to come one more time
before mid-December.
Up to 100 people can be skating on the rink at
one time. Staff will be available to assist and there
also will be a first-aid kit for the unfortunate event
in which someone becomes injured. The rink may
have to shut down in inclement weather.
Rink uses synthetic ice,
but you won’t notice a difference
The 60-foot-by-76-foot rink uses synthetic ice, but
you won’t notice a difference because it performs
like regular ice, explained Chris Beth, director of
Redwood City’s Department of Parks, Recreation
and Community Services. Synthetic ice is more
environmentally friendly than regular ice, since
no machinery or power is needed to keep the ice
continuously frozen. Cruise ships, malls and some
ice-skating shows also use synthetic ice.
Bringing people downtown
How did the idea for Holiday Skating on the Square
come to fruition? The Parks, Recreation and
Community Services department looked at how to
bring people to “the new downtown” and realized
there wasn’t much to bring people downtown in
the winter, and the idea of opening an ice-skating
rink came up, Beth explained.
With Holiday Skating on the Square, “You bring
people downtown,” he said. “It’s fun. It creates a
sense of community [and then people will want to
come back]. You’re bringing people to the doorsteps of
businesses.” Beth added, “It’s a new experience,
a fun experience for families and kids. We hope
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