After crucial equipment broke down last winter, the Redmond City Council decided not to spend millions to shore up the aging system that creates Redmond’s seasonal ice skating rink.

That means the downtown ice rink will not open for the 2024-25 season.

But the city is considering much more significant outlays for a future rink.

During a City Council work session Nov. 14, councilors and an urban renewal committee — as well as Chuck Arnold, downtown economic development coordinator for the city — debated the merits of three types of permanent ice rinks ranging in cost from $4 million to $11 million. The largest of the rinks would be a permanent, year-round structure. Some of the designs allow the rink to be repurposed in summer months into a space for concerts and events.

Arnold said that members of the urban renewal committee have long been looking for ways to improve family-friendly activities in Redmond, though they were not convinced it had to be an ice rink. Councilors and committee members argued that the largest of the rinks may be out of their price range and would hamper other downtown economic development programs. 

“The Redmond community has frequently expressed a desire for more family-friendly activities. The urban renewal plan has long allocated resources to achieve that goal,” said urban renewal Chair Monica Huey. “The rink has become an annual holiday tradition, and we’d like to see that continued.”

The temporary rink, installed in 2010, lasted five years longer than expected, according to city officials.

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