Bentonville Development to Include Skating Rink Near Crystal Bridges

Downtown Bentonville has approved a permanent ice-skating rink downtown….

Bentonville Mayor Coberly encouraged the project after an out-of-state trip in 2003. In 2006, in a joint effort with the Bentonville Advertising & Promotion Commission, the city and A&P worked together to turn the corner section of the Harps grocery store parking lot into a temporary ice-skating rink for 5 weeks. The temporary rink was at a cost of $90,000 per year. 10,000 people skated in the first year. What started as a temporary rink, now will be a permanent facility. The downtown area will accommodate an open-air skating rink, splash park and mini amphitheater.

The open-air ice rink will be located north of the downtown Bentonville Square, near Compton Gardens, and will operate from November to February each year. It will be a 70 ft by 100 ft rink, and will connect to pedestrian and bicycle trails to the Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art. During the warm months, a fountain and splash park with amphitheatre will take the place of the rink.

Coberly claims that the skating rink creates “a Norman Rockwellesque atmosphere around the Square”. The funding for the permanent rink will come from hotel and restaurant tax funds. According to the Bentonville Convention and Visitors Bureau, construction will begin on the project within the next 8-12 months, with a slated opening date of spring 2010.

As development continues with the new rink and the Crystal Bridges Museum of Art, growth in Northwest Arkansas is inevitable. Interested in real estate and land in Northwest Arkansas? Visit northwestarkansasland.net to see our properties for sale in Bentonville and near XNA Northwest Arkansas Regional Airport.