This new Quincy attraction could become a holiday highlight for your family this year
QUINCY – What could be Quincy's next holiday tradition is shaping up on a lot next to Generals Bridge – a 120-by-60-foot ice rink that will bring family-friendly ice skating to the downtown this winter, city officials say.
The rink is expected to open in late November and operate through February. Skate rentals will be available on-site. Hours of operation and the price of admission haven't been determined.
“It’s really going to add something special to all of the holiday and winter activities we do for our families every year, and I’m excited that we’re able to pull it together after a lot of thought and planning,” Mayor Thomas Koch said.
Because the rink will be fully refrigerated, skaters will not have to hope for cold weather to enjoy a glide on the ice.
The parking lot that will hold the seasonal rink is on Parkingway, off Hannon Parkway, just before the Generals Bridge.
The rink will be built and managed by Ice Rink Events, which operates the rink at New York City's famed Bryant Park. The project will cost $200,000, paid out of the District Improvement Financing fund, through which the city pays for downtown improvement projects through future tax growth in the district.
City councilors approved Quincy's fourth and latest District Improvement Financing bond authorization for $53 million in June 2022.
Rink will sit on rumored future Trader Joe's site
The rink will sit on a parcel of land slated for a large scale redevelopment project, preliminary plans for which were unveiled in October at a planning board meeting. The mixed-use development would see an eight-story public parking garage, a residential building with 300 apartments and 20,000 square feet of commercial space, including a specialty grocer rumored to be Trader Joe's.
The temporary rink could return to the same location next year, according to Koch's chief of staff, Chris Walker. "The plan is for it to be annual, depending on construction schedules," Walker wrote to The Patriot Ledger. "We would find a different location if necessary."
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This article originally appeared on The Patriot Ledger: Outdoor skating rink being built in Quincy
