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Skating around Marina City
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(Above left) Photo from 1960s shows skating rink and restaurants on lower level. People can be seen on plaza level, looking down on rink. West residential tower in background at right. (Above right) Promotional photo for Ice Follies 1966.
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In the 1960s, shopping malls were becoming not just retail centers, but places of recreation. Besides movie theaters and food courts, imaginative planners created other recreational opportunities, including the ice skating rink.
The skating rink at Marina City was 110 feet long by 50 feet wide. It sat in the southeast corner of the property, next to the east tower and State Street. It had a skate shop, warming room, and professional skaters available for lessons.
It also had a full-time skating pro. Bob Goranson had toured with the Ice Capades, a traveling show of former Olympic and national figure skating champions who put on theatrical performances that featured ice skating. The 1960s are considered the Ice Capade’s most colorful and innovative era.
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Goranson had directed and choreographed skating exhibitions all over the world. He taught skating for 13 years before moving to Chicago in 1966 from Palm Springs, California, where he was director of the Palm Springs Ice Skating Center.
The 1966-67 skating season at Marina City began on October 12. Under a light rain, Goranson staged what the Marina City newsletter called “a full-scale exhibition.”
The ice review promoted amateur ice skating in the Chicago area. Performers included Latin American interpretative skater Venita, who used fire in her act. The newsletter noted “her act was even more spectacular because not even the rain could put out her torches.”
(Left) Bob Goranson (at left in photo) and Chicago skaters Bonnie Heim, Jean Paslaski, and Charles Bonniwell.
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Also performing were Olympic gold medalist Buddy Zack, German roller skating champion Fred Dursch, Michael Marino, 12-year-old Paulette Kavanaugh, and the 16-year-old Casey Twins. There was only one major spill.
The same group was still performing in April 1967, except for Dursch and with the addition of Toby Stoops and Karen Vogel. And about 75 other skaters, many of whom were students of Goranson who were taught in one of three classes offered each day.
For the two-and-a-half hour “Chicago Scene ’67,” performed twice daily April 13-16, bleacher seats were set up for 300 spectators.
(Right) Print ad for Marina City Ice Plaza
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By 1967, a convertible steel and canvas roof had been installed that could be closed to protect the ice from rain or snow, then opened again to provide open-air skating. This extended the skating season until May and meant it could start earlier in the fall. Manually operated much like a stage curtain, the canvas was pulled back from the center of the rink to the north and south sides. Marina City was the only rink in the Midwest that had a cover like this.
The rink was open every day except Monday, noon to 10 p.m.
(Left) View of rink with roof closed.
(Below) More photos promoting the 1967 Ice Follies at Marina City that show the north edge of the skating rink. (Below left) Rik McKinnea and unidentified skater. (Below right) Richard Dwyer and unidentified skater.
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(Click on image at left to view Chicago Scene ’67 program.) |
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Skating rink as seen in 1965 film This is Marina City.
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Aerial view of skating rink in February 1965. There is a logo on the base of the rink that is an aerial representation of Marina City.
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Goranson died in San Diego in 1992 at the age of 55.
In 1994, the commercial property at Marina City was sold and the new owner, John Marks, announced plans for a $70 million facelift that would include replacing the skating rink, then unused, with a restaurant. Four years later, Smith & Wollensky opened at Marina City.
(Left) Unidentified skaters, circa 1965. (Below) View of area in 2007.
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