Heartland

Urban Ice Skating

Big-city ice rinks draw in the skaters during the winter season

STORY BY Amber Fraley

PHOTOGRAPHY BY

Katie Moore

For over two decades, the Kansas City Ice Center and Pavilion in Shawnee has been a destination ice rink for skaters of all skill levels. KCIC boasts an NHL-sized year-round indoor ice rink with seating for 800 spectators, as well as an NHL-sized outdoor covered pavilion rink with bleachers, a fire pit, and patio seating. The outdoor rink is open from November through the end of February, and in summer and fall, it hosts box lacrosse and sometimes inline hockey. Though it’s been the KC Ice Center for 11 years, the rinks originally opened over 20 years ago.

“It’s a good place for beginners to start skating and a great place for them to explore figure skating and hockey and decide which way they want to go,” says skate school director Kay Olive. She adds that the center’s learn-to-skate classes welcome all age levels. “We have a lot of parents of 3- to 6-year-olds learning to skate while their kids are, so they’re all learning together as a family,” Olive says.

While plenty of amateur free-skaters and serious figure skaters frequent the facility, KCIC is perhaps best known for ice hockey. It’s the home ice for the Kansas City Stars, Kansas’ largest youth hockey organization with over 450 members. The Stars have both house and travel teams for kids of various skill levels, from ages 4 to 18. The Kansas City Jets is

WHERE IN KANSAS? KCIC’s metro elite-level travel team for high school players, and the Jets are this year’s varsity tournament champions in the Midwest High School Hockey League. KCIC also hosts several adult ice hockey teams, from professional-level players all the way down to novice players, and even senior hockey teams for older athletes.

Leawood Shawnee kcicecenter.com / 913.441.3033

Wichita Wichita

Since 1996, the Wichita Ice Center has been home to dual indoor rinks: One a regulation-sized NHL hockey rink and the other an International Olympic–sized ice. Wichita Ice Center offers basic skating lessons as well as figure skating and hockey lessons. It also hosts figure skating shows, adult hockey, youth hockey and birthday parties.

wichitaicecenter.com 316.337.9199

Leawood

The Ice at Park Place is a seasonal outdoor rink serving families since 2008. The rink is surrounded by plenty of seating, shopping and restaurants. It’s open every day, including holidays, from mid-November to the end of February, weather permitting. The Ice at Park Place offers skating lessons, birthday parties, and themed skates such as Princess Skating and Skating with Santa.

parkplaceleawood.com/visit/ the-ice 913.663.2070