Lily Pond to open for ice skating, hockey

January 30, 2014 at 8:33p.m.

The Lily Pond in Mill Creek MetroParks will open as an ice rink

After 24 years, skating returns to the Lily Pond in Mill Creek MetroParks

AN ICE OPPORTUNITY

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It’s not just for fish anymore.

After more than 20 years, the Lily Pond will be open this weekend for supervised ice skating and hockey.

“Exciting is a good word” to describe the opening, said Steve Avery, planning and natural resources director for Mill Creek MetroParks.

The last time the pond was opened as an ice rink was in 1990.

The ice had to be tested for it to be deemed safe enough to open the ice rink. Some of the areas of the ice are about 8 inches thick, said Samantha Villella, MetroParks community engagement director.

That is “more than thick enough for people to be on it,” she said.

The recent below-zero temperatures led to the pond freezing over more than it has in many years, Avery said.

The ice rink will be open with supervision from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday and Sunday.