Peru Washington Park ice rink closes after record season

Jack Frost has left the Illinois Valley (for now), and as a result of the warmer weather, the ice rink at Washington Park in Peru closed over the weekend.

“We had 31 days in total,” Parks and Recreation Director Adam Thorson said. “I think that’s probably the all time record … it’s the most we’ve had in the last couple of years anyway.”

Last year, the rink never opened. In 2022, the rink was open for seven days because of the weather.

With temperatures reaching the high 30s and 40s for most of December, the conditions were not ideal for setting up the rink. By the time temperatures became ideal, it snowed, and city workers focused on the roads.

It has to be colder than 32 degrees to freeze the water, and it needs to be cold enough for a duration of time.

Thanks to a new chiller unit, the ice rink may be operating without weather constraints by the start of the season.

In January, the Peru City Council approved a $1,070,499 contract with SKI Sealcoating & Maintenance to install new chiller units for the ice rink.

During the January meeting Thorson said he wanted to touch on how big of an attraction and hit the ice rink will be once it’s completed as well as Washington Park itself as a whole.

“To have ice from November through March, more than likely, that’s the bigger part of the project obviously and then the bocce ball court and the exercise equipment and just making it accessible to everybody for full usage.”

“So, overall it’s going to be a very attractive area in Peru,” Thorson said during the January meeting.

At the end of January 2024, the city announced it was awarded a $600,000 Open Space Lands Acquisition and Development Grant, a program administered by the Illinois Department of Natural Resources, to make improvements around the Washington Park ice rink and make it available to the public despite weather conditions.