Mexico City mayor Marcelo Ebrard has had many innovative ideas for providing activities and entertainment for free for the residents of the city. During the summer several inner-city "beaches" were constructed, with trucked-in sand and wading pools, with no entrance fee - offering those Mexico City dwellers who can't afford a trip to the coast a chance to enjoy sun and sand. He began a program of "Ciclo-Paseos," every Sunday several streets of the historic city center are closed to traffic from 7 am until 2 pm and cyclists take over. Now the mayor's latest plan is to build an ice-skating rink in the Mexico City Zocalo. The rink will take up 3000 square meters of the Zocalo's area and will accommodate 1200 skaters at a time. The rink will be open from December 7th to January 7th, free of charge, and skates will be available to rent.
Giant ice rink planned in Mexico City's Zocalo Square (Monsters and Critics)
Mexico City fake beach draws crowds but lacks glitz (Reuters)
It was an incredible experience for Team Mexico to attend the opening of the rink, 01 Dec, 2007, and present speed skating to thousands of spectators. We will return to Mexico City for the Closing Ceremonies, mid January.
The line for the wrist bands was so long (3 hours) and no guarantee to get a wrist band.
However, the keeping of the ice conditions by the 9 huge generators is definately a technical masterpiece considering the hot temperature.
Skate is limited to 1 hour session and it is very crowded for each session (free entrance).
Another time, I was unable to bribe the attendants to let me cut the long line (they are very honest workers)
But I heard the St. Petersburg ice ballet performed the entire nut-ckaker fantasy for the people
I hope this ice rink triggers winter sports popularity in Mexico (20 million potential skaters/skiers)
Do you know who install the ice skate rink at the zocalo in mexico city???