A Closer Look Hot Times on the Ice

Folks up North are still building snowmen and falling in love as they skate around the ice rink at New York’s Rockefeller Center. So what if, here in mild-winter Dallas, you want to treat your sweetheart or your inner child to a twirl on the ice? No problem. You may be surprised to know that the number of ice skating rinks in Dallas is sizable and growing.

At last count, 10 skating facilities were operating or in the planning stages in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. These rinks have been catering to the increasing interest in youth ice hockey since the Dallas Stars arrived in 1993. According to Lynn Perna of the Dr Pepper Stars Center in Irving, the number of youth hockey players has jumped from 150 pre-Stars to about 800 today.

Interest in figure skating increases nationally during the years of the Winter Olympics. Some of the rinks in Dallas-Fort Worth, including the Stars Center and the Galleria, have become training centers for young skaters dreaming of gold. Paul Wylie, a 1992 Olympic silver medalist, trained in Dallas.

But you don’t have to be perfecting your double axle or your slap shot to enjoy the facilities here, because most of them are geared to year-round use by the public. They all offer skate rentals.



IN DALLAS:

Galleria Ice Skating Center. Offers figure skating and hockey classes, rink rental for private practice or organized broomball games (similar to hockey but played with brooms and in tennis shoes), a pro shop and party packages. Lower level of the Galleria Shopping Center, LBJ Freeway at the Dallas North Tollway. Information: 972-392-3361.



Ice Chalet. Offers broomball, private ice rental and figure skating lessons from the basics for 3- and 4-year-olds to six levels of freestyle skating. Prestonwood Town Center, 5301 Belt Line Rd. Information: 972-980-8988.



America’s Ice Garden. Offers skating classes, party packages, broomball and private ice rental. Plaza of the Americas. 700 N. Pearl. Information: 214-922-9800.

Iceoplex. A facility that puts the family first. Besides lessons and pick-up hockey games, the facility holds special skating times for children not ready to go on the ice solo, a program for mothers and their children, a coffee club for adult students, a variety of birthday party packages, midnight private rink rentals and snow days, when children 2 to 9 years old can play with snow on the ice then warm up with hot chocolate and cookies. 15100 Midway Rd., Addison. Information: 972-991-7539.

Dallas On Ice. Through the miracle of air-conditioning technology, we can ice skate outside even when it’s 80 degrees in winter. Coolant pumped through pipes in the sand bed beneath the ice keeps it at 18 degrees. It offers rink rentals for broomball, birthdays and other special occasions and a calendar of special activities for adults and children, including shows and performances. Open through March 2. West End, Munger Avenue between the Marketplace and Spaghetti Warehouse. Information: 214-696-RINK.

Dr Pepper Stars Center. The pre-eminent facility, with two ice rinks, is open 24 hours a day all year except Thanksgiving and Christmas days. Although members of the Dallas Stars hockey team practice here, most of the activities center around enjoyment for the general public from 35 figure skating classes for beginners and Olympic hopefuls to hockey leagues for children and adults. 211 Cowboys Pkwy., Irving. Information: 214-GO-SKATE.

Dr Pepper Stars Center-Piano. Although not yet open, the new center the Stars are building in Piano will offer the same activities as the center in Irving. It also will feature two rinks and be open 24 hours a day. The facility is slated to open this year at the corner of Summit Drive and Jupiter Road.

Ice Bound Skating Center. This new facility touts itself as a family entertainment center; owners plan to open it March 15. It will offer an NHL-size rink, exercise rooms (free weights), food, arcades (including virtual reality) and party facilities. The rink’s owners have an affiliation with the American Hockey Association, therefore team hockey will be prominent. Figure skating activities also will be available. 4020 Piano Pkwy., Piano. Information: 972-612-8760.



IN FORT WORTH:

The Ice. Opened in 1977, the rink in the old Tandy Center is perhaps the ice rink most familiar to area residents. Its rink is three-quarters the size of an Olympic sheet. The facility has a pro shop and private party facilities. Fort Worth Outlet Square, 100 Throckmorton. Information: 817-878-4800.

Ice Sports Center of Texas. Developers plan to open this facility in June or July. 901 John T. White Rd. North. Information: 817-457-5283.