The ice rink is back, everybody’s happy — right?

Well, it’s not unanimous.

Two cute skaters last Friday

A lot of people are happy, for sure. Mickey Mallonee, the city’s director of special events, says more than 12,000 folks attended Friday’s Celebration of Lights program which marked the opening of the temporary skating rink on Market Square, dubbed “Holidays on Ice.”

All of downtown was bustling, as the accompanying photos will attest. Children and adults were lined up to get into the ice rink. Deck the halls!

By Monday, however, the rink was virtually empty. At 6 p.m., only three skaters were on the ice. Vendors were literally twiddling their thumbs. And later in the week, the folks at Salon Visage were pretty grumpy.

“We HATE the tents!” three of the women at the front desk said in unison, when asked about the ice rink. “You can’t see anything except the ugly white tents,” one explained. “You can’t feel the atmosphere of Market Square at all.” When asked if it helped their business, the answer was a resounding no.

John Craig heads up the Market Square District Association so he deals with all the businesses on the square. “It doesn’t help everybody’s business,” he conceded Wednesday. “It’s kind of like the Sundown in the City concerts. But it’s a net plus for most people.”

There seem to be three main issues:

• The ice rink puts a physical barrier to crossing Market Square itself. Pedestrians have to loop around the Square to get to the other side;
• The big tents disrupt the sight lines — you can’t see from one side of the Square to the other;
• Some of the restaurants feel that the temporary food vendors who come in for special events like this are skimming the “cream” by only operating when crowds are expected, while the year-round eateries must stick it out during good times and bad. And they are the ones who have truly invested in making Market Square what it is.

Monday was lonely for Don Spencer, owner of The Pitmaster

As far as the tents go, Craig said that when the ice rink was first constructed several years ago, it was open-air: there were no tents. But whenever it rained, the ice would melt. Having a covered ice surface prevents that.

As for the attendance, Craig said week nights are understandably slow until school gets out for the winter break. But weekends are good.

So it’s a trade-off. “It doesn’t do huge things for everybody’s business. But it’s become a signature thing for Market Square,” he pointed out. “It provides an extra reason for people to come to Market Square over Christmas.”

There has been some talk among city government types about the possibility of moving the rink to the Krutch Park extension in future years. Craig is not offended by that thought. “That’s an interesting idea,” he said. Some think that location would be a benefit to businesses on Gay Street, as well as those on Market Square.

Mayor Bill Haslam introduces Mickey Mallonee, center, and Santa during Friday's festivities.

Some other folks have suggested moving the rink to a different part of the city every year. Fountain City might like to have it one year, for instance, it has been suggested.

Mallonee said the rink costs the city $289,000. (This is the first year it has been run by the city; previously a private company did it.)

So what will happen next year? Will it return to Market Square? Will it move to Krutch Park extension? Will it move somewhere else in the city?

“I have no idea!” Mallonee laughs. “I can tell you one thing — it won’t be me making the decision!” She has announced plans to retire at the end of this year. The mayor is leaving to become governor in January. City Council has not yet picked an interim mayor. And it seems like every day someone new is mentioned as a candidate for permanent mayor. So who knows?

Here’s my advice: if you like to ice skate, go to Market Square and enjoy it as often as you can for the remainder of the month.

Here are some scenes from Friday:

There was a huge crowd on Market Square.

Same with the Krutch Park extension.

Singers entertained near the big Christmas tree on Gay Street.

Over on Market Square, things were heating up at the ice rink.

The entrance was crowded.

Adults and kids took to the ice.

This girl seems to know what she's doing!

Fun, fun, fun!

Zamboni kept the ice smooth.

Marshmallows were a big hit, too!

But Monday was a different story.

Not many customers for the vendors.

An empty entrance

Skaters on Monday had plenty of space!

The rink on Monday night

Photo credit: All pictures of Friday’s festivities were taken by Don Tritt on behalf of the city of Knoxville. Courtesy of Mickey Mallonee. Thanks.