Winter Sports Park hopes to have ice rink open by end of week

PETOSKEY — After an unseasonable lack of snow to start the winter season, the Winter Sports Park in Petoskey is finally ready to open.

For Parks and Recreation Director Kendall Klingelsmith, the lower temperatures and snowfall are a welcome sight to get the park in use for the season.

"Better late than never, I guess," he told the News-Review.

The park was open for sledding throughout the weekend, but Klingelsmith is looking forward to getting things ready for full operation.

"People love the Winter Sports Park," he said. "We love it. We love it when it's busy and it is frustrating when we don't have the conditions to make ice or we don't have enough snow. It's too good of a park not to utilize."

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Klingelsmith said in order to get the open air ice rink prepared, there has to be a thick base layer of snow and cold enough temperatures to keep it open. As of early Friday afternoon, Petoskey had seen a total of 29.8 inches of snow. Usually by this time of year, the city would have seen 54.6 inches of snow.

"We're at the mercy of Mother Nature. We can't make ice when it's 40 degrees," Klingelsmith said.

More information on hours will be available at petoskey.us or on the Petoskey Parks and Recreation Facebook page.

— Contact reporter Karly Graham at kgraham@petoskeynews.com. Follow her on Twitter at @KarlyGrahamJRN.

This article originally appeared on The Petoskey News-Review: Winter Sports Park hopes to have ice rink open by end of week