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Outdoor ice rink assembled, waiting on mother nature for ice

(Photo Courtesy/Mike Beiermeister) Volunteers put together a new outdoor ice rink at Bay View Park.

Alpena — It was an exciting afternoon over at Bay View Park despite the cold and windy temperatures.

Those temperatures are actually a good thing for the new outdoor ice rink being installed right off of Lake Huron. Volunteers helped assemble the new rink this afternoon near the band shell. The group friend’s of the Alpena outdoor ice rink received the approval last night for the new rink at a city council meeting.

“It’s very festive, it will drive people downtown, so they’ll shop and get coffee and just meet up with their friends,” said Bauer LeMonds.

The goal is to have the rink ready to rock by this weekend but that is all up to mother nature. Maintenance for the rink will be run on a volunteer basis. Members of the group hope to bring back memories of the last time Alpena had an outdoor rink.

“We all grew up with big rink out at Mich-e-ke-wis, and it was just a blast, everybody loved it,” said Organizer Kara Bauer LeMonds. “It was just a great place to come if you weren’t that great of a skater to get your confidence up, so you could start open skating in the bigger rink, and so we just thought what a great idea.”

Once the ice is set, the group will host a grand opening celebration with festivities. Volunteers are still needed to help maintain the rink.

If you’d like to help out or would like updates on when the rink officially opens, contact the Facebook group Friend’s of the Alpena Outdoor Ice Rink.