A synthetic ice rink will be skating into DeKalb this winter season.

The rink will be constructed on the southeast corner of First Street and Locust Street.

The facility will cost just over $51,000, but it will generate enough revenue to pay for itself in three to five years, said City Manager Mark Biernacki during the Sept. 22 city council meeting. He said the 80 by 40 foot rink will be synthetic and can be used for ice skates and roller blades.

Rick Monas, director of DeKalb Public Works, said the target date for the opening of the facility is Nov. 16. It will remain open until Jan. 31.

The rink would only be seasonal in the beginning, Biernacki said at the Sept. 22 city council meeting. He said the rink will be broken down and stored in the summer months. If there is enough interest and revenue in the rink, it may be turned into a year-round facility in the future, he said.

Mayor Kris Povlsen said at the council meeting the project will bring a lot of benefits to the city.

“I am really pleased to see that we are hopefully doing what we are intending to do with Re:New DeKalb; bring people downtown, beautify downtown and entering more revenue to the city,” Povlsen said at the Sept. 22 meeting.

Fourth Ward Alderman Donna Gorski agreed with Povlsen at the Sept. 22 meeting. She said the ice rink will bring a lot of excitement to the city. Gorski also said the ice rink is a relatively low-risk endeavor for the city.

“If this thing doesn’t work, if it’s not utilized well, certainly the last resort, the beauty of it is it’s portable,” Gorski said at the meeting. “We can pack it up and sell it to someone who wants it. I think it’s worth a shot and I hope it will be a lot of fun for the folks that take advantage of it.”

The Skate School is a company that manages similar facilities in the Fox Valley. They will manage, operate, program and schedule the ice rink in consultation with DeKalb. The company and the city will split the income from the operation of the facility.

The facility will not be difficult to put together, Monas said at the Sept. 22 meeting. He said the sections of the rink would be laid flush and tapped together with a mallet, taking about two hours to assemble.

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