Whether you can pull off a double axel with a triple toe loop, or just barely keep your feet under you, there is a rink in Hastings for you to enjoy your ice skating. With the frigid sub-zero temperatures this winter, the Tyden Park Ice Rink in Hastings is open from now until spring, with ice perfect for skating. The rink is available to skaters 24 hours a day.

 

 

“The ice is in great shape. There are people down there skating all the time. It’s good to see,” Hastings City Councilman Bill Redman said.

 

The park doors are closed at 9 p.m. but if it’s a good moonlit night, skaters can park on the hill above the park and walk to the rink in the soccer field area to skate.

The skating rink is a welcome addition to Hastings for area skaters, but Redman, the driving force behind the first rink, has a larger dream, that he and others are now working toward.

 

Their goal is a 120 foot long, 90 foot wide covered skating rink with four poles on each side, and an accessory building with a warming room, skates to rent, a Zamboni and other equipment ready for skaters in the winter of 2019-2020.

 

“Very, very” preliminary plans include the rink where the Tyden Park basketball courts are, but that could change, Redman said. In the warm months, the facility will be rented for weddings, reunions, birthday parties and other group activities.“There will be moderate fees to raise enough to pay for maintenance,” Redman said.

 

“There's a lot of planning and a lot of work ahead of us,” he said of the as-yet unnamed facility. The challenge is even bigger because Redman and his supporters are raising private funds for the project and will not use any taxpayer dollars. Ironically, Redman doesn’t skate, but his grandkids do. Granddaughter Nicole Olsen skates at the park with a brand new pair of skates.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Photos: (upper left) The Tyden Park Skating Rink in use.

(lower left) A concept drawing of the future skating rink.

(photos provided)