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Durham to get its skates on with winter ice rink

An outdoor ice rink has opened in Durham this week, just in time for the Christmas skating season.

The venture has been led by local businessman Jan Eskildsen who last year announced plans to construct a permanent ice rink in the area.

The temporary rink, currently being built next to the former Riverside Rink building in Walkergate, forms part of the longer-term vision to see a full-time ice arena re-established in the City and will be in place throughout Christmas until March next year.

Mr Eskildsen said: “When the opportunity to open a temporary rink came about, we jumped at the chance to re-establish ice-skating in the city once again.

“While interest and momentum builds, we will continue to progress with the process of getting plans for the ‘big rink’ finalised.

“Durham has not had any form of ice rink for a number of years, and with the popularity of outdoor Christmas rinks in the region and elsewhere in the country we are confident it will be an exciting addition to what the city has to offer over the festive period this year.”

The temporary pad, built by the company behind London’s Canary Wharf rink, will be similar in size to Newcastle’s Centre for Life ice rink and will also boast a hospitality tent for parties and corporate groups. Skating lessons from professional coaches will also be on offer.

Mr Eskildsen said that the return of ice skating and ice hockey is still on track: “It’s been a long journey and a lot of progress has been made so far. We would have liked to have been up and running by now, but we need to get everything absolutely right for it to succeed. We hope however by providing the city with a temporary ice rink, we spark once again the interest in skating in the interim and build up the support in the area for the permanent arena.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Ruth Mitchell .