The outdoor ice rink at Mount Greenwood Park has a new chiller as the Chicago Park District gears up to open the facility for the season, easing fears in a neighborhood that was recently bracing for the rink to go dark for good. The equipment arrived just weeks after rumors of a possible closure sent local hockey families into a panic.
The rink, located at Mount Greenwood Park, 3721 W. 111th St., was built in 1997 and is scheduled to open Nov. 27 alongside the Chicago Park District's four other outdoor rinks, according to Block Club Chicago. The Park District has said no repairs are planned for the nearly 30-year-old rink, and a spokesperson confirmed the agency is installing the newly delivered chiller ahead of the season.
A Rumor That Sparked Neighborhood Uproar
The scramble to reassure residents began after Bob Lesch, administrator and coach of Chicago Mount Greenwood Hockey and a retired firefighter, raised the alarm after a Park District contractor told him the rink would not open this year. Lesch announced the rink's possible closure, which caused an uproar in the neighborhood, and he said at the time that he doubted the rink would remain open for the season.
The worry was serious enough that Lesch said he had considered suburban Evergreen Park as an alternate site for the hockey program's learn-to-skate sessions. But the Park District pushed back on the closure talk, confirming the rink would open as scheduled. Ald. Matt O'Shea said the agency put it on the record that the matter stemmed from a miscommunication by an employee, the station reported.
A Decade-Old Equipment Problem
Behind the scare was a long-standing mechanical issue. Lesch said the rink's chiller compressor has not worked for ten years, if not longer, forcing the Park District to rent a temporary chiller every year just to keep the ice operating. The same report noted that unshaded, outdoor permanent rinks with tubing embedded in concrete enclosures, like Mount Greenwood's, typically last 20 to 25 years in a Midwestern climate, while the chillers that cool them typically last around 15 years.
For Lesch, the purchase of a new chiller reads as a signal the district intends to keep the rink running. He said buying the unit is a very good sign that the district is committed to keeping the rink open, calling the chiller the main equipment needed to make and maintain good ice throughout the year. He added that the new unit gives him hope about the rink's future for this season.
Registration And Seasonal Timeline
The Park District's preparations, including icing the rink, typically begin about three weeks before the scheduled opening as temperatures drop, per the same account. The Chicago Park District lists the Mt. Greenwood rink as typically open from late November through mid-February, and its ice rinks page confirms that all outdoor rinks besides Maggie Daley, including Mount Greenwood's, open Friday, Nov. 27.
Chicago Mount Greenwood Hockey's learn-to-skate program will hold registration Nov. 13 from 6:30 p.m. to 9 p.m. at the Mount Greenwood Park fieldhouse. The rink's upkeep has been a recurring neighborhood concern before: in 2015, its opening was delayed by needed repairs, according to DNAinfo, which reported that O'Shea said the district had committed to maintaining both the outdoor rink and the Morgan Park Sports Center as long as the community kept using the facility. That same report described Mount Greenwood's rink as historically among the most-used of the district's eight comparable outdoor rinks.
