Rachel Bruemmer, recreation specialist at Jefferson City's Washington Park Ice Arena, grew up at the ice-skating rink and remembers very few times she wasn't wearing her skates. One thing she remembers clearly is the disappointment she felt when she was 10 years old and the arena closed for two months.
"When the season ended, I think I cried for like two weeks following that," she said. "I would feel a little lost when we would shut down and be closed for the summers."
This is the first year the Washington Park Ice Arena has been open all year, and the staff and skaters are excited for the opportunities it provides.
Originally, the ice arena operated from July to April for figure-skating season, but last August, the city decided to keep it open year-round.
Ice arena manager Kerri Gates said the main reason for opening year-round was to better cater to regular skaters and hockey players. In past years, these groups would have to travel to other year-round ice rinks to practice. Now, they will be able to practice in Jefferson City.
Others would use the two-month period as a break, which Bruemmer said was rough on skaters and players because they would not have a place to practice - and roller blading was not a substitute for ice skating.
"If you play soccer, you can find any open field to kick around a ball and put up a couple of nets," she said. "Same thing goes for basketball because you can buy your own basketball net. Skating is different because you have to have the product. You have to have that ice, and if you don't have that, it's not the same."
Skater Makenna Johnson, 14, has been skating for seven years and is a member of the Capital Classics Synchronized Skating Team. She said when the arena would close for two months, it was a long break, and skaters would spend the first month the ice park was open warming up.
"Since this is staying open all throughout the year, we don't have to spend that extra time refreshing everything we're doing," she said. "It definitely gives us a head start for the new year, especially for synchro."
Bruemmer, who is also a figure-skating director and day camp coordinator at the arena, said closing early also caused scheduling problems. The arena hosts test sessions for skaters every year, which are conducted by judges from U.S. Figure Skating - the national association that oversees the sport - and those sessions were sometimes difficult to schedule around other activities. This year, those sessions were in May and June.
The ice arena also held several classes, camps and tryouts during those two months.
Gates said she is pleased they haven't experienced problems this summer but said the humidity is always a worry. The staff has to make sure not much humidity enters the ice rink, as it could melt the ice.
Bruemmer said she plans to build on the arena's programs by offering more classes and camps, as well as possibly bringing in national-level coaches to work with the skaters and hockey players.
Gates hopes the arena can attract more people during the summer months in the future and provide a place to cool off from the heat.
Johnson said she prefers the ice rink to cool off and hopes more people will begin using it.
"For kids my age, they're going out to the pool, going out to the lake to cool off, and I'm over here like, 'I'm skating on ice.' So that's my way of cooling off," she said.
To maintain the ice, it is kept at 18 degrees and goes through weekly maintenance, such as shaving down the ice and filling in holes.
In past years, the ice was rebuilt annually during July, which would take about two weeks, but Gates said they now hope to close the arena every three years for a few weeks to rebuild the ice.
After all these years, Bruemmer said, she is excited to see the program open year-round and to build on the programs offered.
"Having the product, the ice, all year, it feels good; it feels right," she said. "I've been wanting this for a long time."