With winter comes ice skating on the Midway

With winter’s official start ony weeks away, the ice skating season will soon arrive, and the Midway Plaisance Skating Rink and Warming Center, with its Olympic-size rink, will be ready with a range of activities scheduled through early spring 2003.

In its first season in 2002, the complex quickly became a popular spot for members of the University community and neighborhood residents from Chicago’s south side.

The ice rink offers free skating for everyone throughout the season with hours set from 12:30 to 9 p.m. Monday, Tuesday and Thursday; 12:30 to 7 p.m. Wednesday; and 12:30 to 3 p.m. Friday. Admission is $3 for youths under 17 and $4 for adults during the following times: 3 to 9 p.m. Friday; 1 to 10 p.m. Saturday; and noon to 7 p.m. Sunday. There are special hours for the holiday period between Christmas and New Year’s.

Pick-up sessions of “rat hockey” are from 7 to 9 p.m. on Wednesdays, and the fee is $5. Players must be at least 10 years old and must wear helmets, shin pads, cups and hockey gloves. Players under 18 also must wear a full-face mask.

Ice skating lessons are offered at various times from November through March for $50 per session. Figure skating lessons will also be offered. The Midway Plaisance Skating Rink and Warming Center also can be rented for special events for $150 per hour.

Skate rentals are available for $3 per pair, and helmets, knee and elbow pads, and wrist guards may be rented as a “gear package” for an additional $1 fee. The Midway Plaisance Skating Rink and Warming Center is at East 59th Street, west of Woodlawn Avenue. Complete skating schedules are available on the Chicago Park District Web site at www.chicagoparkdistrict.com.