The Rink at PPG Place

Also for my nonfiction class. This is just a piece about the the ice skating rink at PPG Place in Pittsburgh.

The Rink at PPG Place

            A small child in a black and white jacket with a knit Batman hat pulled down over his tiny ears grasped his father’s hands as he stepped onto the ice, his legs buckled beneath him like a newborn foal taking his first steps. A few feet ahead, a young couple’s gloved hands intertwined and their awkward conversation hovered in the air between them, barely audible, as the skates scratched against the ice.

Each year for the last 12 Winters, 2 truckloads of Styrofoam, 15 truckloads of sand, and roughly 10 miles of tubing make their way to PPG Plaza in early October to construct The Rink at PPG Place so that the people of Pittsburgh can ice skate with a view surrounded by the glass castle of PPG.

Henry and Elsie Hillman donated The Rink at PPG to the city of Pittsburgh in 2001 so that there would be an activity for citizens to take part in downtown. Since then, The Rink has enjoyed 11 more successful seasons each year from November to March. They’ve grown from about 35,000 visitors in the 2001-2002 season to just fewer than 65,000 during the 2011-2012 season.

“The running joke with the Hillmans is that Elsie asked Henry for a nice mink and he misheard her for an ice rink,” Datz explained.

The Rink, composed of stainless steel, aluminum, and glass, measures 104 by 104 feet, which is larger than the famous Rockefeller Center. It’s one of a kind due to its soft diamond shape with an octagonal hole in the center and the elevation of the plaza that it sits on. While one side of the plaza is about 1 ½ feet high, the other end measures at about 3 feet, creating challenges for construction and maintenance workers. This custom design also makes it impossible for the rink placed in PPG Plaza to sit anywhere else.

“Adjusting to the surface of the plaza, putting water in there, and freezing it so that its level is quite a task,” Datz commented.

Brad Holland, the owner of Magic Ice USA, the company that runs The Rink, said that construction in PPG Plaza starts in early October and ends in November. Every year, a Magic Ice USA supervisor comes to Pittsburgh to oversee the 6 construction workers who install the rink. However, designs are in progress for a rink that can be constructed more quickly.

Datz explained that the weather in Pittsburgh, which has been especially dynamic in the last few weeks, presents certain challenges for the upkeep of The Rink. The buildings surrounding the rink radiate heat, providing obstacles to keeping the rink frozen.

“What people don’t understand about downtown Pittsburgh is that because there are centralized buildings…there may be an inch of snow up on Mount Washington, but it could be raining in town just because of that heat,” Datz said.

He went on to explain that wind blowing through building can also affect the ice’s surface and create more maintenance work.

“[The wind] funnels in through the buildings and actually takes some of the surface water off of the ice and some of the skated snow off of the ice too. That definitely provides maintenance challenges,” Datz explained.

Despite the challenges of constructing and maintaining and ice-skating rink in the city, The Rink at PPG Place has positively impacted the businesses in and around Market Square. The Rink gives people a reason to come into town before grabbing dinner in Market Square, going to a Penguins game, or seeing a show in the cultural district.

“The businesses around here have boosted tremendously. The revitalization of Market Square has been built by us a little bit, and then since they revitalized a few years back, we’ve boosted our business as well,” Datz said.

“I think [The Rink] has had a huge impact. When it was installed, Market Square was vastly different. There wasn’t a lot of evening life in downtown Pittsburgh and there wasn’t a lot to do,” Holland added.

The Rink runs several promotions and events throughout the season, even during their busiest time. In November, they host a mascot skate where people can skate with their favorite mascots and get autographs. On Saturdays in December they host Skate-With-Santa. After the holidays, there’s family night every Tuesday and every Wednesday students can skate for $3 on college night. They also paint hearts in the ice to create a romantic atmosphere for couples on Valentines Day. The Rink has even witnessed two weddings on the ice in its 12 seasons.

The busiest time for The Rink at PPG is the holiday season when many people are off work and school and have time to spend ice-skating.

“That really tends to be our busiest stretch…During the weekends before the New Year, we sometimes have a line of an hour or an hour and a half,” Datz said.

Teresa Spudic from North Versailles, 49, said that she comes to The Rink for the memories especially around Christmas. Spudic, who is currently battling cancer, watched her daughter, her daughter’s friend, and her nephew skate around the rink from the sidelines. She sat bundled up on a picnic table beside the entrance to the rink with Tucker, her Miniature Schnauzer, cuddled on her lap in a blanket with icicles in his gray beard.

“We come here all the time. We don’t go anywhere else ice skating, especially around Christmas time...I take my daughter everywhere and this is one of the places we always come... for the memories,” Spudic said, “and Tucker comes with us everywhere too.”

The management of The Rink also takes in pride in keeping prices low. They haven’t changed the price to skate in the last 8 years, and they try to keep the price around the price of a movie ticket while offering group rates, and that’s something that customers appreciate.

 

“A movie’s going to last you around 2 to 2 ½ hours and that’s about how long your skating experience is going to last, but it’s more exhilarating and it’s more active. It’s a lot better and it’s more family-oriented,” Datz said.

            Dave Cunningham and his family came from Ohio to skate at PPG and he commented on the price of skating.

            “It’s a wonderful, positive thing that everyone can do as a family. It’s nice… It’s not a bunch of money and everyone can afford it,” Cunningham said

Dennis Piper from Crafton Heights also appreciates the family atmosphere of the Rink. He has brought his youth group from Crafton Heights U.P. Church to The Rink every Super Bowl Sunday for the last 5 years and said he wouldn’t come to Market Square for any other reason.

“It creates a family environment…and it’s a fun place to be a part of,” Piper said.