Climate change forces cities to use plastic instead of ice in new skating rink

 

Headline:  New York Times, 4/5/2026

Ken Belson and Hiroko Tabuchi report:

To Michael Townsend and his co-workers, maintaining an outdoor rink as the winters get warmer felt like a Sisyphean task. [emphasis added]

Mr. Townsend and his crew increasingly worked overtime flooding the rink at Eugene T. Mahoney State Park in Ashland, Neb., with water and driving a Zamboni throughout the night to maintain the ice. 

When the 26-year-old rink needed to be replaced in 2024, Mr. Townsend found that new compressors to chill the ice 

So the park replaced the ice with high-density polyethylene, which is durable, easy to assemble and cheap to maintain. This plastic surface also performs largely like ice, albeit with more friction, and skaters use regular ice skates. The price tag? About $350,000, including maintenance supplies.

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