Located in the heart of downtown Syracuse, Clinton Square is one of the most popular places for members of the Syracuse community to go ice skating during the winter season.

Every Wednesday, the rink offers free admission from 5 to 8 p.m. The rink will offer this until
March 9. The only cost to visitors will be skate rentals if they don’t bring their own.

The Connective Corridor bus offers an easily accessible way to get to the ice skating rink.

The rink, now 12 years old, hosts about 20,000 skaters per year. Located right over the Erie Canal, it is one of the most popular destinations within the city of Syracuse’s parks and recreation department.

People go to the rink for many different reasons. One couple, Matt Seeoh and Liz Pittman, went to celebrate their eight-month anniversary. The two got dressed up to go to the square and at the last minute decided to ice skate. Seeoh described it as a memorable date night and said throughout their time skating people came up to them remarking how cute they looked together.

A group from the campus ministry of Canisius College located in Buffalo, New York, took a group of local Buffalo students skating two-days in a row — for most of the students it was their first time at a rink.

“It was awesome,” said Rachel Joachimi, a student from Canisius College, in an Instagram direct message. “It was kind of cool because before they were pretty shy and they all spoke different languages, but once we were ice skating they were all giggling and falling, grabbing someone they didn’t knows’ hand.”

Jeremih Dcoz, a student from Buffalo who was part of the group, said he had the time of his life at the rink. It was his second time skating and being able to do something he loves made his day, he said.

Dcoz said the atmosphere of the rink, especially the music and the employees, was great. He added that he saw all types of people at the square.

“The ages of people who go to the rink range from 2 years (old) up to 70, and I think that everyone loves it as much as I do,” Dcoz said.

Published on January 18, 2017 at 12:09 am