Columbia’s outdoor ice rink moves from Main Street this year. Here’s where it’s going

After six years of seasonal skating on Main Street, Columbia is moving its popular outdoor ice rink out of downtown to Harbison Boulevard.

Main Street ICE is no more, as its former home at the Columbia Museum of Art’s Boyd Plaza is being renovated.

Instead, the city will open the newly named Holiday ICE rink at Columbiana Centre mall on Thanksgiving Day.

The rink will remain open through Monday, Jan. 21. Fees and hours for the rink have not yet been announced.

The outdoor ice rink has become an unlikely tradition in a city that frequently dons shorts and T-shirts through the winter. City leaders have praised it for drawing people downtown who otherwise might not have visited the city center.

It has lost more money than it makes each year, but making money is not the point of the ice rink, some city leaders, including Mayor Steve Benjamin, have said.

Last year, the city indicated it would be seeking a new location for the ice rink, knowing the art museum’s plaza would be unavailable this winter. Benjamin had said it was a high priority to keep the ice rink running.

“I think it’s a worthwhile investment,” Benjamin told The State last December. “It’s unique and it’s fun and it’s one of the very small things we could do that has helped, I believe, continue to redefine Columbia into a place where quality of life is becoming our calling card.”

Boyd Plaza is undergoing a roughly $3 million renovation that is expected to be completed this winter, along with the finish of a years-long renovation of the art museum’s interior.

This story was originally published September 25, 2018 at 12:05 PM.