Sign up for TPR Today, Texas Public Radio's newsletter that brings our top stories to your inbox each morning.
There's a new sound being heard at Pearl — the sound of skates on ice.
Mike Joergensen, Pearl's chief marketing officer, said this is a first.
“We have, for the first time ever at Pearl, an outdoor skating rink. And it opened on the Friday after Thanksgiving, and it will run through January 4,” he said. He said it’s open from 11 a.m. until 9:45 p.m.
Joergensen noted that this is a fully legitimate ice-skating rink. “This is real ice with a chiller system, not, you know. ... Sometimes in Texas, you go to—quote—'ice skating,’ and you're skating on a piece of plastic. This is a real ice rink,” Joergensen said.
As to what it costs to skate, it depends on when you go.
“There are two price tiers and for kind of peak and non-peak times. So non-peak is $20 for an hour, and peak is $28, and that includes your skates, like skate rental,” he said.
Given Pearl’s density, one has to wonder where the rink would even fit.
“It's located next to 1100 Springs Plaza, just north of Stable Hall, so on the north end of the Pearl property," he said.
Joergensen said there is holiday music playing, and there are several places surrounding the rink to take family pictures. He said the whole process is fun to be around.
“Whether it's little kids, especially, but even adults who have maybe never been on skates before. And we do have little glides that you can use to steady yourself, sort of like training wheels for people that haven't done it before.”
It's even open on Christmas day for those who would like to skate on the holiday.
“It's really beautiful setup the way it's been constructed, because it's surrounded by pine trees and string lights and so forth. So it is definitely a very picturesque setting.”
In fact, Pearl has brought in and lit very tall trees and built a place to take holiday pictures.
“Even as you and I are talking now — and it's going to be 76 degrees today — it's amazing how well the ice stays frozen, even in temperatures like that. But it's [a] really beautiful setup the way it's been constructed, because it's surrounded by pine trees and string lights and so forth. So it is definitely a very picturesque setting.”
It's quite a scene that plays out: those knowing the sport and those doing all they can just to stay upright.
Two different food and drink vendors are parked with hours of operation that coincide with the schedule for the skating rink.
