The City of Tomball is expanding its holiday activities this year with what is shaping up to be a very popular attraction.

The Holiday Ice Rink will open its doors, and its synthetic ice, on Nov. 21 and run through Jan. 10, and will be located at the Tomball Depot Plaza, one block south of Main Street at 201 S. Elm.

City staff recommended the project to the city council in March with the hope that it would bring people to Tomball to skate and stay to do their Christmas shopping. Staff members cited the success of similar ice rinks in The Woodlands, Downtown Houston and Moody Gardens.

Tickets for the rink are $8.50 per person for a two-hour session, which includes skates. Group rates of 20 or more are $7.50 per person.

The ice rink will open in conjunction with the Greater Tomball Area Chamber of Commerce’s annual Holiday Parade. The project was approved by the city council in March of this year.

The rink will be funded in part by the city’s Hotel Occupancy Tax, which will contribute $12,000 to the project.

“Since the rink will attract visitors to Tomball, this event does qualify for use of those funds,” a staff report stated.

The city will pay for expenses of the ice rink rental, as well as seasonal labor, security, insurance, advertising and on site storage of the rink.

Revenue for the plan is based “on the assumption of 75 percent occupancy for each weekend session and 60 percent occupancy for each week day session when the schools are on their holiday break.”

In addition, the ice rink has added several sponsorships which will help offset the costs.

With higher costs and training needed to utilize a real ice rink, Ice Anywhere, the company providing the rink, will utilize a polymer product which requires no water or chillers, no Zamboni, and “is very easy to maintain.” The entire rink will be enclosed in a tent.

The rink is available for private rentals, which Mayor Gretchen Fagan says are already starting to line up.

Those wishing to skate on the rink will be required to sign a waiver and release form, which is available online at tomballtx.com. A schedule for ice rink hours, sponsorship information, group reservation information and party pricing is also available online.

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