Ice Skating Available at The Garden Faire’s Handmade Ice Rink

It may be cold outside and Jack Frost might be nipping at your nose, but this weather is perfect for ice skating at The Garden Faire’s handmade ice rink.

This is the second year the Oswego business has created the rink, said Garden Faire owner John Zidlicky.

“It was actually an idea a friend had,” said Zidlicky. “He thought it’d be pretty cool if we could figure out how to make one.”

Zidlicky used to work for the  Naperville Park District where he was in charge of their hockey rink and free skating ice rink. One year the district created a smaller rink for the kids and he thought he’d give it a go.

The rink at the Garden Faire was made by building a frame of wooden blocks and then using hockey rink plastic – think almost like a tarp – to cover the ground. Then water was poured in to fill it up and a skating rink was born.

Depending on the slope of the ground the ice is up to a foot thick in places and about 5 inches in other.  The rink gets sprayed after close with a new layer of ice to seal up the cracks and gouges left earlier in the day.

The rink is open during business hours of the Garden Faire: 9:00 a.m. – 7:00 p.m. Monday – Friday; 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. on Saturday; and 11:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. on Sunday, but it can remain open later if it’s busy.

The cost to skate on the rink is $3 and skate rental is an additional $2.

Zidlicky said they primarily get younger kids out, including many fist timers to the ice, but everyone is welcome. “It’s a good environment, and everyone is having fun.”

The rink almost met its end last week when the weather became unseasonably warm, but for now it’s still sticking around.

Zidlicky estimated it would be available for about another week depending on the temperatures and the strength of the sun.

For ice rink updates check out The Garden Faire’s Facebook page.