The Woodlands on Ice
The Woodlands Ice Rink Will Soon Have a Permanent Home
Photo by Jennifer Pinto Photography
People who lived in The Woodlands back when it was a sleepy bedroom community truly hidden in the woods may remember that we once had our own year-round ice rink. The original ice rink was located inside The Wharf. The Wharf was also home to boutique shops, art studios, and the classy Glass Menagerie where locals loved to brunch while looking out at Lake Harisson. Like the ice rink, the shops and art studios are long-gone, the Glass Menagerie has moved to The Woodlands Country Club, and the original building now houses the Shell Learning Center. As for that friendly community hidden deep in the forest, it has become a full scale city. You can't bring back the past, but you can bring back the ice rink. Kind of sort of.
For years after the ice rink closed at The Wharf, The Woodlands had no ice rink whatsoever. Residents who wanted to skate had to travel down to The Galleria or the Aerodome (in the Willowbrook area). Fifteen years ago, a tent housing a temporary ice rink went up on the corner of Lake Robbins and Six Pines Drives, just in time for the holiday season. This has now become a annual tradition with the ice rink showing up each November, only to be unceremoniously disassembled in mid-January. None of the tens-of-thousands of patrons who have skated there could be sure if the ice rink would make a fresh appearance the following year, as the property was privately owned and could only be leased from one season to the next. It is only a matter of time before this lucrative corner in the heart of The Woodlands Town Center is commercially developed.
The Woodlands Township and The Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion have now joined forces to provide The Ice Rink at The Woodlands Town Center with a permanent home.
Do not misread permanent to mean year-round. If you want to cool off on-ice in the middle of summer, you will still need to gas up your car and head down to The Galleria or the Aerodome. However, the new ice rink will now enjoy a longer season than its tented predecessor, running from November 15 to March 15. At 21,000 square feet, it will also be substantially larger. The Woodlands Township and The Woodlands Pavilion will be splittng the construction costs (estimated at $5.5 million) and The Township will be soley responsible for the ice-making equipment costs (another cool half-million or so). In return, The Woodlands Township will be granted a thirty-year lease on the seasonal site and expects to recoup its costs in about nineteen years. Construction is scheduled to begin following the end of The Pavilion's 2015 Season and is expected to open in 2016.
