Tuscaloosa Plans to Buy Ice Rink for Holidays on the River

The popularity of Tuscaloosa's annual Holidays on the River event has led city officials to make a move to buy an ice rink to host the festivities moving forward.

You wouldn't necessarily think of Tuscaloosa, Alabama of being a place where ice skating would really take around the holidays. But, it has in a big way! What started out as an event over at the Mildred Westervelt Warner Transportation Museum area in 2012, has now grown to a larger event hosted at the Tuscaloosa Amphitheater in a few short years.

The move addressed during Tuesday's City Council meeting shows a savings by taking the purchase route on a rink in the long run, compared to annual renting. Tuscaloosa News reports the one-year rental is around $100,000, where an outright purchase is $132,000 with a rink lasting 10 years. Makes sense to me.

So, with the city about to own its own rink, does that mean we could perhaps have it around for Holidays on the River when its Christmas in July? Even on hot September days in T-Town, zipping around the ice with a Speedo on would work wonders to cool me off. Okay, before I make everyone cry in fear, I wouldn't wear a Speedo, ever.

Seriously, wouldn't it be... nah, it would be awful. Even if there was a miraculous discovery to have ice not melt when its a 101 degrees out, it would suck to fall to the ice while wearing Bermuda shorts and tank top (okay, another vision of me I don't need to feed you). Yeah, just imagine the ICE BURN on your skin. Ouch!

Alright, December will be here soon enough, and I for one am excited about the return of Holidays on the River!