By Alexa Shrake | For the Daily Journal
Festival Country Indiana plans to offer a grant to a local city or town that’s willing to host a temporary ice skating rink next winter.
Parks departments in Johnson County will soon be able to apply for a grant to cover the costs associated with bringing the temporary rink to the community.
“Right now we are just in the preliminary stage,” said Kenneth Kosky, director of Festival Country Indiana. “It’s more making sure we’re ready if one of our cities is interested in partnering with us to test this out.”
Kosky proposed the idea at a recent Johnson County Convention and Tourism Board meeting, and the board approved the grant program.
“There are synthetic surfaces and real ice options, and those can cost anywhere from $20,000 to $80,000 for a month,” he said.
Parks departments would have to provide a space for the rink and staffing.
The grant is intended to test whether Johnson County would be a good fit for a permanent ice skating rink. It would likely fit best in Franklin or Greenwood due to the higher populations and available parks facilities.
If the trial run proves a success, then a permanent location would be a place for family, friends and, potentially, hockey teams.
“Maybe one weekend while it’s there, a holiday market or an ice carving festival, something like that,” Kosky said. “Winter is one of our slow times in the year, and obviously, a project like this would give residents and visitors something to do.”
