On a hot, sultry summer’s day, the Peoria Civic Center announced that a corner of downtown will become an ice skating rink this winter. It’s part of the Center’s inaugural Winterfest, a 39-day event that organizers hope becomes an annual tradition.
Peoria City Councilman Ryan Spain says the goal is to attract residents downtown during the chillier months.
“Winter is the time where we need to get creative about how we can develop new amenities that will bring people downtown," Spain said. "That’s good for our downtown restaurants our downtown business. We need more people here, even when the weather isn’t so great.”
Sand piled along the Illinois River during this summer’s flooding will come in handy for the winter event. The outdoor ice skating rink requires sand as a foundation base. City Councilman Ryan Spain says the city didn’t have to look very far for materials:
“So we thought well, I know where there’s some extra sand available and we were able to take non-contaminated sand from the river flooding barricades and make that sand available as the base for the project here,” Spain said.
Winterfest kicks off the day after Thanksgiving, in conjunction with the city's annual Santa Clause parade.