New Albany's holiday season has usually come down to a few dated evenings, such as a tree lighting, a menorah lighting and a symphony concert at the McCoy Center. From Sunday, November 22, there is also something open four days a week. The Charleen & Charles Hinson Amphitheater in Market Square will run as an outdoor ice rink through February 28.
Opening day isn't the main test for the rink. That will come on ordinary nights in January. City Council approved the rink as a project that will be judged on more than one winter, and the agreement it signed reflects that.
A schedule instead of a single date
The city's October 13 announcement lists regular hours for the whole season:
| Day | Rink hours |
|---|---|
| Monday through Wednesday | Closed to public skating |
| Thursday and Friday | 5 to 9 p.m. |
| Saturday | Noon to 9 p.m. |
| Sunday | Noon to 8 p.m. |
Admission is $15 per person and covers skate rental. The city says hours will expand during winter break and on holidays. The New Albany-Gahanna Beacon reported that the rink is available for private rentals on the three closed weekdays. It also reported that Mayor Sloan Spalding asked at the council discussion how long a session lasts, and the answer was one to 1.5 hours of skating, depending on the day.
The season runs 14 weeks from the Sunday opening to the last Sunday in February. With four public days a week, that comes to more than 50 regular skating days before the holiday extensions. No other part of the city's holiday programming runs that long, and the rink puts weekday evening hours at the amphitheater through the winter.
According to the Beacon's report on the August presentation, city officials said New Albany will be the second suburban central Ohio community with this kind of outdoor real-ice skating. Dublin is the first.
How the city structured the agreement
Council approved the rink 6-0 on August 18 under Resolution R-34-2026. The Beacon's account of that meeting includes the financial terms.
- Capital cost: $167,000 to the city, according to Director of Strategic Initiatives Abbey Brooks. Asked by Council Member Marlene Brisk, Brooks confirmed that the figure covers only the rink and not any separate amphitheater modifications.
- Operator: Outdoor Ice Rinks, a family-run company whose seven-person team has more than 80 years of combined rink experience.
- Revenue: admissions and rental income are split 50-50 between the city and the operator after operating expenses.
- Projection: $150,000 to $200,000 in total season revenue, which Brooks called "highly weather dependent."
- Term: a one-year agreement with two possible one-year renewals.
- Price: in response to Council Member Andrea Wiltrout, Brooks said the $15 fee would be revisited after three years.
The revenue projection is a gross figure, and the split happens after expenses. So even a strong first season gives the city half of whatever remains from at most $200,000, which is less than the $167,000 it spent on the rink. The agreement allows up to three seasons, and the fee review is set at the three-year mark. Both terms suggest the city is judging the rink over several winters.
That makes the weather and the regular hours the important variables. Santa Skate will probably sell well on its own. A cold Thursday in late January, with the rink open 5 to 9 p.m., is the kind of night that decides whether the project earns its renewals.
November 22 moves between two sites
Opening day also moves the Holiday Tree Lighting, which will be at Rose Run Park for the first time. The city's holiday events page lays out a day that starts at the amphitheater, goes to the park at dusk and then returns to the ice:
- Noon to 4:30 p.m., Hinson Amphitheater. Santa Skate, with festive music, photos with Santa, letters to the North Pole and jingle bell decorating. The $15 admission includes skates and all activities.
- 5 to 5:30 p.m., Rose Run Park. The free tree lighting, with carols led by a children's choir, a countdown with Santa and the Mayor, and free hot beverages and donuts.
- Until 8 p.m., Hinson Amphitheater. The rink stays open after the ceremony.
Sunday, December 6, follows the same pattern for Hanukkah. A Hanukkah Skate runs from noon to 4:30 p.m. with a skating dreidel, dreidel decorating and traditional games played for chocolate coins. At 5 p.m., the community menorah lighting at Rose Run Park begins, with rabbis leading the traditional blessings, a children's choir and free hot beverages and kosher donuts. The rink again stays open until 8 p.m.
Both Sundays treat the two places as one evening, with skating in the afternoon, the lighting at dusk and the ice open afterward.
Why the tree went to Rose Run Park
The city has worked toward the new location for a long time. The 2003 Rose Run Greenway Corridor Study called Rose Run "the physical, visual and emotional heart of the community," and the Rose Run Park page describes the park as green space between Market Square and the school learning campus. According to the city's Village Center overview, the first phase was finished in 2020. It added a large plaza for events, a bridge over the stream bed connecting the park and the school, a library garden, a wooded glen and trail, and a bike hub. The same page says the library, the McCoy Center, the Heit Center and the Hinson Amphitheater have made Market Square "the de facto center of the Village Center and the community's main gathering place."
Moving the tree to the park's plaza and putting the rink in the amphitheater gives the city two holiday sites within the Village Center core it has been building for nearly 20 years.
What is under construction nearby
The second phase of Rose Run Park is still being built, and it affects how people reach the area this month. Rose Run Park Phase II is on two acres between Village Hall and the New Albany Police Department, donated in part by The New Albany Company. The former gas station, the former police station and the former New Albany Mill warehouse on that land have been demolished.
The site will become New Albany's Veterans Memorial, designed with the landscape architect MKSK and a focus group of residents, veterans and veterans' advocates. Plans include a heroes walk, a contemplative plaza, a water feature and a life-size sculpture honoring Gold Star Families. The sculpture was created by Michael Kraus, is being fabricated by Travis Cook and will be the city's first permanent piece of public art. The city expects the memorial to open in late fall 2027, with the statue unveiled at the park's opening.
For now, the city's October 29 construction update says the southbound S. High St. lane and the turn lane on E. Dublin Granville Road stay closed within the construction area through Wednesday, November 25. That window includes the opening day of the rink. The update also says earlier restrictions on E. Dublin Granville Road, Main Street and Locust Alley are being removed. The Village Hall and police department parking lots are closed to the public, and temporary parking for both is south of Village Hall Road.
The McCoy Center's dates fit around the rink's hours
The McCoy Center for the Arts is at 100 East Dublin Granville Road in Market Square. Its holiday dates line up with the rink's open days.
- November 19 to 21: New Albany High School Theatre presents Come From Away. The show closes the day before the rink opens.
- Tuesday, November 24, 7 to 10 p.m.: a free screening of Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas, with no ticket required. The rink is closed on Tuesdays, so this is the Market Square option that night.
- December 11 to 13: New Albany Children's Ballet Theatre's The Nutcracker, which runs Friday through Sunday while the rink is open.
- Saturday, December 19: the New Albany Symphony Orchestra's sensory-friendly Santa & the Symphony at 11:30 a.m. and its Holiday Spectacular at 3 p.m. The rink is open from noon to 9 p.m. that day.
On East Main Street, Harvest Pizzeria announced in June that it would open at 24 E. Main St., with a fall opening expected at the time.
The rink's last scheduled day is Sunday, February 28, when it closes at 8 p.m.
If the new season at Hinson Amphitheater has you thinking about where your household spends its winters, The Anne DeVoe Group would be glad to talk through New Albany's Village Center and what it means for your plans. Schedule a free consultation, and we'll start from the places you already know.
