It's winter break. That means families with kids are looking for ways to get out of the house and enjoy some winter fun.
In Cleveland, the city rec centers scheduled a host of special events and daily activities for winter break, including ice skating at Halloran Ice Skating Rink on the West Side.
"People are coming in earlier in the day. They're coming in big crowds," said Carrie Serrano, the manager of the Halloran Resource Center. "I see grandmas, aunts, uncles, people from out of town. It's nice that they can all come and gather here."
Generations of Northeast Ohioans have skated at the park.
The ice skating rink is a historic Cleveland landmark, built in 1959 and named after Cleveland native and journalist Ensign William Halloran, who was killed in the attack on Pearl Harbor.
Several improvements were made to the rink in the last few years including $1.5 million in renovations completed in 2021, $2 million on roof repairs that are expected to begin this spring and a hockey-themed tech game room, courtesy of a $30,000 donation by the Cleveland Monsters, the city’s minor-league hockey team.
Halloran is a hybrid rink, meaning it has a roof, but the sides are open to the outdoors. It's the only ice-skating rink run by the city. The rink is part of the Halloran Resource Center, which includes a pool and an outdoor park.
Adam Schulte from Fairview Park has been taking his son Camden — who loves playing hockey — to Halloran for years.
“This is an absolute amazing city resource. Unfortunately, people don’t get a chance to do ice hockey or explore ice hockey or get a chance to skate because of the expense," Schulte said. "This. It’s a resource that someone can use because hockey is such an expensive sport, figuring skating is such an expensive sport.”
Mariah Glenn works the front desk at the rink and she brought her 7-year-old son and some of his friends to skate for the day.
“Most kids are sitting at home either just on their devices or playing with all of their new gadgets and gizmos, but it’s still important to have hardcore fun activities just aren’t just strictly electronics," Glenn said.
Earlier this month, Cleveland announced a slate of winter break activities at its recreation centers, including sledding, tobogganing, video game tournaments, cornhole tournaments, pizza parties and a trip to the Cleveland Botanical Gardens.
