Work was completed in late April on a new facility at The Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion that will house an ice rink during the winter season.
The ice rink is a dream officials in The Woodlands have had for many years, said Nelda Blair, former Woodlands Township director and former chairman of The Woodlands Convention and Visitors Bureau.
“Many doors were shut in our face, and we were told no many times,” she said. “I even thought of building it on top of [The Woodlands Waterway Marriott Hotel & Convention Center.] It’s coming true now, and I smile every time I drive by.”
The entire new facility cost $5.4 million, according to John Powers, assistant general manager of community services for The Woodlands Township. The township’s portion of the ice rink cost $3 million.
Powers said the township will use the building from Nov. 16-March 15 each year, and the ice skating season will typically begin around Thanksgiving and end as early as Martin Luther King, Jr. Day.
“We have the ability to extend the ice skating program to any time until March but may decide other types of use are more beneficial from year to year,” Powers said.
For the rest of the year, the space will be used by the pavilion as an event center, and the House of Blues Lounge will open inside the facility an hour before and close an hour after most Live Nation events, according to Cameron Klepac, assistant director of public relations and education at the pavilion.
In previous years, an average of 50,000 skaters would use the ice rink, said Nick Wolda, president of The Woodlands CVB.
While the ice rink has been housed in temporary locations since its inception in 1999, the move to the pavilion provides a permanent venue for the ice rink, said Wolda, who has been involved with planning for the ice rink since it first opened.
“It’s a wonderful new facility that is very convenient to millions of square feet of shopping, dining, entertainment and hospitality,” Wolda said.
The lot near Tinseltown, where the ice rink was previously housed, will be developed over time, Wolda said.
“The beauty is that [the ice rink] is close to home for residents of The Woodlands,” he said.
