Soon families, friends and visitors will once again lace up their skates and take the ice at Sweetland Amphitheatre. 

Beginning Dec. 6 and continuing through Feb.17, 2020, Sweetland on Ice will take over the amphitheater’s Great Lawn with a 5,500-square foot open-air ice skating rink. 

For the past few weeks, Jackson Services, contractors and the city have been working around the clock to build the rink and to fix problems that they ran into last year with piping issues. 

“We hope to have the chiller on and making ice buildup next week,” said Dale Jackson, owner of Jackson Services. “We know it’s going to be easier with this brand new, beautiful platform. It is just so great the way we rearranged the rink now. We moved the chiller, so it will be a lot quieter for the neighbors.” 

A new addition to this year’s rink, aside from the children’s skating trainers, will be a skating aid that can be used as a chair to ride on. 

“It’ll be so a child can sit down, and a mom or dad can push them around the rink,” Jackson said. “For a family, this is absolutely amazing. My kids practically lived out here last year, and it was just so great. I was out here so much and got to talk to people who said they had moved off to Columbus or Newnan.” 

Jackson took a trip to New York and saw Bryant Park, and said he hopes Sweetland on Ice reaches that point one day. 

“Jackson Services heated tent will be here all winter,” Jackson said. “It will hopefully give all families the ability to come, but we also want to see food trucks and vendors utilize our tent as their extended restaurants.” 

Visits by Santa, and concessions provided by Harvest Coffee and Bakery and Holloway’s Concessions will also be available throughout the opening of the rink. 

“We are thankful for [City Manager] Meg Kelsey for making sure we had plenty of support from the staff of the City of LaGrange,” Jackson said. “They have been a huge asset.” 

Sweetland on Ice will add to the holiday happenings hosted in downtown LaGrange, including complimentary carriage rides, the annual Holiday Retail Sip & Shop and visits by Santa and his elves to Lafayette Square. 

The price for skating will be a $12 entry, plus a skate rental. Throughout the week, there will be daily deals as well. 

The rink will be closed Monday through Wednesday for private parties but open Thursday through Friday from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. and Saturday through Sunday from noon to 9 p.m. 

Reservations for private parties may be made in advance by emailing Amanda Sugermeyer at amanda@sweetland.events.

For more information, call Sweetland Amphitheatre at (706) 298-5434.