While today’s students unintentionally skate across patches of ice exposed by campus snow brooms — or ice polishers, as they’ve been cautiously dubbed — previous generations enjoyed ice skating as a more recreational activity.

An outdoor ice rink, located just north of the swimming pools, was a crowd-pleasing feature of the Co-Recreational Gymnasium (now the France A. Córdova Recreational Sports Center) when it opened in 1957. Skating parties were regularly organized by campus organizations, and the Figure Skating Club, now defunct, practiced on the mechanically-frozen ice. Nearly three decades of skaters spun around the rink until it was shut down in 1983. Declining usage rates and the high cost of fixing the mechanics ultimately led to its closure, and the ice rink was replaced with three tennis courts.

Prior to the Co-Rec’s construction, Blackbird Pond, situated a couple of miles northwest of campus, was a favorite skating spot among Boilermakers. The reflection pool that was located south of the Purdue Memorial Union from 1957 to 2004 also served as an impromptu ice rink when temperatures dipped. While there is a seasonal skating rink near the Levee in West Lafayette, Purdue students may soon be able to bundle up for some fun on the ice even closer to campus — preliminary redevelopment plans for the Chauncey Hill Mall area have hinted at the inclusion of a small ice rink.