12th Season Of Free Ice Skating In Chicago’s Millennium Park

Michigan Avenue Ice Skating Rink Offers Free Admission

2012-10-2 — /travelprnews.com/ — The McCormick Tribune Ice Rink in Millennium Park will open on Friday, November 16, 2012 and will remain open through mid-March 2013, weather permitting.  For the last 11 years, the rink has drawn more than 100,000 skaters annually and is free and open to the public.  The rink, located on Michigan Avenue between Washington and Madison Streets, will still offer skate rental for only $10.

The rink will operate under the following hours:

Regular hours for the season are as follows:

• Mondays through Thursdays: 12 p.m. — 8 p.m.

• Fridays: 12 p.m. — 10 p.m.

• Saturdays (through Dec. 22): 10 a.m. — 10 p.m.

• Saturdays (beginning Jan. 5): 10 a.m. — 9 p.m.

• Sundays: 10 a.m. — 9 p.m.

Holiday Hours

• Thursday, November 22 (Thanksgiving Day): 10 a.m. — 4 p.m.

• Monday, December 24 (Christmas Eve): 10 a.m. — 6 p.m.

• Tuesday, December 25 (Christmas): 10 a.m. — 4 p.m.

• Monday, December 31 (New Year’s Eve): 10 a.m. — 8 p.m.

• Tuesday, January 1 (New Year’s Day): 12 p.m. — 9 p.m.

The Ice Rink was the first element of Millennium Park to be open to the public.   A special ribbon cutting ceremony on December 20, 2001, featured performers and skaters including two gold-medal winning women hockey players, the Radio City Rockettes, and actress Bonnie Hunt. The rink is 200 ft. long, 80 ft. wide and has 15,910 sq. ft. of skating surface.

Millennium Park, managed and programmed by the Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events, is an award-winning center for art, music, architecture and landscape design. The ice rink, the first element of the park to be open to the public, is just one component of the 24.5-acre park, whose other prominent features are the Frank Gehry-designed Jay Pritzker Pavilion, the most sophisticated outdoor concert venue of its kind in the United States; the interactive Crown Fountain by Jaume Plensa; the contemporary Lurie Garden designed by the team of Gustafson Guthrie Nichol, Piet Oudolf and Robert Israel; and Anish Kapoor’s popular Cloud Gate sculpture.

For more information about events in Millennium Park during the winter months, visit www.millenniumpark.org, or call 312.742.1168.

NOTE TO PRESS: Electronic Images Available Upon Request

For information on Chicago Park District ice skating rinks visit www.chicagoparkdistrict.com

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Cindy Gatziolis    312.744.0573