How Rosa Parks Rink stays chilled | News

GRAND RAPIDS (WZZM) - This winter has been a roller-coaster of temperatures.

With temperatures close to 20 degrees above average one week followed by the coldest daytime highs we've seen in years.

During the thaw, hundreds of people were calling the ice rink at Rosa Parks Circle to check if the ice was safe to skate on.

The city of Grand Rapids answered with a resounding 'YES'!

Brent Mundwiler, the ice rink's manager said, "This weather's been interesting.  To say the least.  The last two seasons have been up and down.  We are open, we can handle anything up to about 48 degrees."

Clearly, 48 degrees is way above freezing.  So how do they keep the ice intact?

Mundwiler explained, "Well, we've got two large compressors that are underground.  They keep the cement slab of the ice rink between two and four degrees."

Those compressors run continuously through the winter months.  The ice rink is expected to stay open through March.