Ice Skating in Ypsi’s Riverside Park

Dave Strenski and his Ypsilanti Zamboni clears off the fresh snow from the skating rink in Riverside Park.

(January 24, 2008) With a little help from the angels at the City’s Department of Public Works and Ypsi Solar entrepreneur Dave Strenski, Ypsilanti has outdoor ice skating. Riverside Park had flooded several weeks ago and with the cold snap, portions froze.

Dave Strenski and his daughter Irene were out skating on the ice last week. They weren’t skating on the river, they were skating in the park on the southern end by the public parking lot.

Wednesday, Strenski was back shoveling snow in Riverside park to clear off the ice when out of the blue a DPW employee showed up with a small tractor and plowed a large area clean.

Strenski said he grew up in Chicago and the fire department used to flood the parks each winter for skating.

“It’s not perfect, but very skateable”, said Strenski about Riverside Park. “We even have a picnic bench on one end to sit on and change into your skates.”