Do You Want A Skating Rink With Real Ice In Town Square?
Sep 20, 2010 8:53 - 3 Comments
Town Square Rental Skates
Since late 2008, we’ve had a seasonal fake-ice “skating rink” set up in the courtyard in Town Square each winter. (Here’s editor Cindy Cotte Griffiths review.) I’ve tried it out, and personally don’t find it compelling, though families with younger tots might well enjoy an hour or so of gliding.
There’s a move afoot to consider turning the rink into one with real ice, and a community meeting is coming up this week to learn more about it.
In a letter to local property owners, Town Square developers Federal Realty Investment Trust say they have applied to the City “to allow development of a seasonal ice rink (real ice).” The application number is STP2011-00059. Here’s a pdf of what they are proposing.
They’ve scheduled an “area meeting” at 10am, Saturday, September 25 at the Oro Pomodoro restaurant. (Oro Pomodoro is right on the courtyard in Town Square.)
“At this meeting [we] will make every effort to illustrate how the property will be developed and answer any questions,” says the letter.
Got an opinion on skating in Town Square? Be there on Saturday!
From the PDF, it looks like the entire interior of the square would be turned into the ice rink. As currently configured, the square is incredibly popular and full of people. I don’t see the appeal.
Good point, Sean. I work in RTS and in winter we don’t get a ton of people sitting or standing in this space, but the rink in the PDF looks so big that it could make it tough to cross the square as a pedestrian. The fenced-off areas with restaurant tables make it tough enough. It might be OK if those fences were removed for the winter, but I really wouldn’t want to see them overlap at all.
What’s in it for the City of Rockville? Do we receive any revenue? Is staff working on this project?