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Talk heating up on city ice skating rink

Staff file photo / R. Michael Semple Ice skating is again a hot topic in downtown Warren as city council today discusses a proposal to set up a rink this winter in Courthouse Square, as was done in 2008 when Grace Sauline, left, and her sister Mary Sauline, both of Girard, enjoyed an afternoon outdoors.

WARREN — Just as the area is entering the hottest days of summer, some city leaders already are thinking about attracting people downtown when the weather gets frosty.

Council President Jim Graham will be leading a discussion about the city possibly purchasing an ice skating rink to be used from mid-November through February in Courthouse Square. The subject will be raised during a council meeting at 4 p.m. today in council chambers.

Graham is hoping the proposed rink will get more people going downtown, which will help to spur economic development and further the growth of the downtown area.

“We can have kiosks around the rink that businesses can rent,” Graham said. “We can have tables, lights, landscaping and burn barrels. It will add to the appeal of an already beautiful Courthouse Square.”

The dimensions of the rink would be 96 by 42 feet, according to Graham.

Graham said the skating rink would operate 4 to 10 p.m. Mondays through Fridays and from early morning until late evening Saturdays and Sundays.

An ice skating rink was leased and used in Courthouse Square for two years around 2007 and 2008, according to Graham.

“We had about 5,000 people use the ice skating rink during the first three weeks it was up,” Graham said.

Warren assistant fire Chief Chuck Eggleston, who was involved with the initial effort to bring an ice rink into the city a dozen years ago, also is helping to spearhead this project.

“We had a lot of people using the rink in the first year, but due to weather we did not have as many coming out in the second year,” Eggleston said.

Part of the idea is to grow the city from its downtown, similar to what is being done in Youngstown, Eggleston said.

“We are trying to get more foot traffic in downtown, especially in the winter,” Eggleston said. “We have one of the most beautiful downtowns in the area, in Ohio and possibly in the country. We should showcase it.”

How the rink would be paid for hasn’t been determined. Eggleston is hoping for some kind of a public-private partnership for its purchase and operation.

Trumbull 100, a nonprofit philanthropic group that works to enhance quality of life in Trumbull County, was one of the sponsors of the original ice rink.

“At the time, we leased the rink from a company called Ice Rink Events,” area businessman John Taylor said. “People seemed to have enjoyed it. However, it cost a lot to keep the ice frozen.”

Taylor, a member of Trumbull 100, described the rink being successful because of the high number of sponsors.

“We had community support,” he said. “We had hundreds of people using the rink. We needed thousands.”

Mark Marvin, a local entrepreneur who purchased and renovated several downtown businesses including the Robins Theatre, likes the idea of an ice rink placed in Courthouse Square.

“It is a great idea,” Marvin said. “Anything that will bring people downtown. We now have more restaurants and places to go in downtown Warren. We want more people walking into and using downtown businesses and restaurants. We like the idea of people bringing younger people into Courthouse Square.”

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