UF students and Gainesville residents will have to hang up their ice skates this year as plans to open a temporary ice rink downtown were canceled Friday.
The Plaza Ice Palace, previously scheduled to open Nov. 23 on the Bo Diddley Plaza, will no longer open to patrons due to technical difficulties, city officials say.
“Midwest Display, Inc., which was providing and managing the ice rink, has run into numerous challenges and the vendor said he is regrettably forced to cancel the engagement,” said Russell Etling, program coordinator for the city’s Department of Parks, Recreation and Cultural Affairs, in a statement.
Plans to open the rink were delayed three times in the last few weeks due to problems such as cracked PVC pipes and issues setting up a 35-foot tent, according to Alligator archives.
Before 2007, the rink was an annual, city-funded event, but due to budget cuts, city officials had to shut down the rink.
This is a developing story. Check back for more updates.
Contact Chris Alcantara at calcantara@alligator.org.
Technical problems have forced the abandonment of efforts to construct an ice rink downtown on Bo Diddley Plaza. The white tarp pitched above the plaza's grassy pit was the only remnant from the rink Sunday afternoon.
