Hang up your skates: Community Center warming house, ice rinks, close for the season

The Cook County Community Center maintains two ice rinks and a warming house during the winter months. This year the facilities opened just after Christmas, and closed at the end of February.

On Feb. 25, the county announced through social media that the warming house would be closed due to the warm weather, and warned skaters that if they chose to skate, “they will get pretty wet from all the puddles.” Ice conditions have not improved, and the decision was made to close the warming houses and stop maintaining the rinks for the season.

The warming house was staffed by community center employees during open hours. Staff managed skate rentals and concessions sales, in addition to keeping track of how many people were skating.

Community Center Assistant Anna Klobuchar told WTIP that in the just over two months of operation, staff counted 1,682 skater. The total did not include anyone who may have skated outside the warming house open times. It also did not include the school groups from both ISD 166 and Great Expectations. Klobuchar said students from one or both schools were there nearly every school day, with 20-30 children skating each day.

“The schools were there almost daily, and they kept the warming house team busy!” Klobuchar said, “It was great seeing kids learn how to skate for the first time.”

Klobuchar shared that the single busiest day of skating was Friday, Jan. 17, right before a major cold snap in the county. She said warming house staff counted 120 skaters on that day.

“The season was very busy, and all went very smoothly,” Klobuchar said, “The ice rink team was great, and made sure skaters enjoyed their time on the ice.”

Kirsten Wisniewski March 7, 2025