The Fort Museum and Frontier Village will offer ice skating for the first time this year at a rink which will open just as soon as the water freezes.

Fort Dodge utility workers were on hand Wednesday to provide around 33,000 gallons to fill up the rink.

The rink will be open from 4 to 8 p.m. Fridays, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturdays, and noon to 4 on Sundays as soon as it freezes, said Museum Director Cheryl Sherry.

“We’ve had so many people excited about having a skating park in Fort Dodge again,” Sherry said. “If demand is high enough, it could expand to Saturday night skate too. If we have enough volunteers. … We’re playing it by ear.”

-Messenger photo by Joe Sutter
Jay Ort, Fort Dodge water utility department, adjusts the fire hose filling up the skating rink at the Fort Museum. The workers said they wouldn’t run the hose too fast, about 200 or 300 gallons per minute; with the size of the rink it took an estimated 32,900 gallons.

The settler cabin inside the fort will be open and warmed, and there will be hot cocoa, cider and snacks for sale, she said.

Starting some time in January, the museum will also have skates to rent, Sherry said, thanks to a grant from the Ann Smeltzer Charitable Trust. Admission plus skate rental will be $7 total, the same as general admission to the museum.

Admission for those bringing their own skates is $3, and will begin once the pond is frozen — which shouldn’t take too long in the forecasted cold days ahead.

“We’re so happy to be awarded this grant, and it’s allowed us to buy the materials to build the pond, and it will also allow me to purchase skates for rental,” Sherry said.

Temperatures were around the 30s Fahrenheit on Wednesday as the pond began to fill up. City workers came out around 9:30 a.m. to set up the fire hose which would deliver 300 gallons per minute.

-Messenger photo illustration by Joe Sutter
Henry Williams, left, Orval Kinne set up stakes to built the skating rink in the Fort Museum’s stockade, in this image made from multiple photos. A laser device on the tripod in the middle is used to ensure the walls of the rink will be high enough to hold the level water in spite of the uneaven ground.

Setup was done with help from the Iowa Central Community College football players, Sherry said. They came out Tuesday afternoon to spread the large specially made plastic liner.

Orval Kinne and Henry Williams had been working on the wooden frame for about two weeks before that, moving dirt to get it closer to level, and using a laser device to keep the walls the same height.

“The skating pond is a wonderful addition to the museum, and it will be open yearly,” said Sherry.

She’s also hoping to bring in a skating team from Ames to come up and help open the rink.

Meanwhile, private tours are available by appointment during the winter, and there are new exhibits in the trading post in what was once exclusively retail.

-Messenger photo by Joe Sutter
Henry Williams pounds in stakes around the perimeter of what will become the skating rink at the Fort Museum. Williams and Orval Kinne worked for two weeks putting up the boards to make the rink, and Iowa Central football players arrived on Tuesday to help spread out the liner.

On Jan. 13 the Fort will host a “sock hop” celebration featuring Richie Lee and the Fabulous 50s.

A lot of work is being done, Sherry said, to respark interest in the village and museum.

“The museum is alive and kicking, more than ever,” she said.

For more information about the Frontier Village and Fort Museum, visit fortmuseumfv.com or call 573-4231.

-Messenger photo by Joe Sutter
Water begins filling up the 120 by 80 foot skating rink at the Fort Museum on a sunny, 30 degree Wednesday morning, overseen by Fort Dodge utility workers and Orval Kinne.

-Messenger photo by Joe Sutter
Fort Dodge utility crews set up a meter, backflow preventer and valve on the old fire hose running into the Fort Museum’s stockade to fill the skating rink.