A few skaters braved bitter cold for week’s final day of skating for the extended PNC Winterfest. (Chronicle photo)

After a slow start due to unusually heavy rainfall in late November, Peoria’s first PNC Winterfest exceeded expectations by attracting more than 11,000 skaters.

“We feel it was a success,” said Peoria Civic Center general manager Anne Clayton. “The final attendance numbers came in at 11,700, and we had budgeted for just under 7,000.”

Initially slated to be open Nov. 27 through Jan. 3, the Civic Center extended PNC Winterfest through Jan. 18 after the rain delayed the opening by three days. Weather continued to be a struggle with an unusually warm December, followed by bitterly cold temperatures in January. Nonetheless, Clayton said people came in droves to skate on the 60-foot-by-80-foot outdoor ice rink and slip down the 100-foot ice slide.

“During the winter break when the kids were off school and after the holidays, the weekends especially were just gangbusters,” Clayton said. “Extending the dates ended up being a good idea.”

Clayton said the rain was the only thing that seemed to keep people away. “We had the El Niño at the beginning with the warmer temperatures and then a polar vortex at the end, but I think we had two camps: people who wanted to skate in warm weather and people who wanted to skate in cold weather,” she added.

Other than the weather, Clayton said there were only positive surprises with the inaugural event, including at least six marriage proposals on the ice.

“The proposals were absolutely a surprise, but I think people were definitely inspired by the ambiance. It was a romantic unique setting under the lights at night downtown,” she said.

In addition to the ice rink, PNC Winterfest featured a heated spectator tent, entertainment stage, food and beverage tent and a holiday market, but most people just seemed to want to be on the ice, Clayton said.

“Normally, we expect to have multiple activities to provide people, but it seemed everyone just really wanted to come out and skate,” she noted. “The slide was very popular as well and was a complete bonus. I even went down it three times in a row and felt like a kid again. It was so much fun.”

Among the thousands who took to the ice at PNC Winterfest was Abigail Lowman, a sophomore at Illinois State University. “We decided to check it out because it seemed like a nice setting change from skating inside,” she said. “I really enjoyed the atmosphere, and we had a ton of fun going down the ice slide.”

Another skater, 17-year-old Anawin Netwijit said he and his friends were attracted to the event because it was unique.

“Skating outside like that at night with all the lights kind of felt like something out of a movie, but here it was in our own town,” Netwijit said. “I hope they do it again next year.”

Clayton said there are definite plans to put up the ice rink again next year.

“What we’ve heard from the public is they want us to be open all winter long,” she said. “That was unexpected and is certainly something we’ll take into consideration next year to determine how long we’ll stay open. We’re going to take into consideration all the comments we’ve received and sit down as an internal group to go over what we need to fine-tune or expand or do better with next year.”

A crew from Texas-based Ice Rink Events arrived last week after the event closed to begin dismantling the rink. Civic Center staff is still determining what to do with the previously unused grassy area where the rink sat adjacent to the Civic Center and City Hall at the corner of Fulton and Jefferson.

“The initial idea is to put down some concrete to use not only as a pad for next year’s Winterfest but also as a venue for programming in the warm weather,” Clayton said. “We have a whole slew of ideas that we’re going to be looking at and narrowing down to decide exactly what we want to do.”

While declining to elaborate on what those ideas might entail, Clayton said it likely won’t include concerts. “I think we still need to be sensitive to the noise level in that area,” she said.

PNC Winterfest did feature music, but Clayton said the Civic Center only heard complaints from one person about the noise level.

“We really controlled the hours that we had music and the level of the music out of respect for the residents. The majority of the feedback from the Twin Towers, minus only one person, was that they enjoyed having it. They enjoyed looking out their windows and having a mini Rockefeller Center scene that they got to overlook,” Clayton said.

“Also, I think we have a generation in Peoria that grew up skating out at Bradley Park or over at Glen Oak, and I think they’ve enjoyed passing that tradition on to their children or grandchildren,” she added.

Clayton emphasized that the event was a community effort between the Civic Center, PNC Bank, the city of the Peoria and the community.

“Everybody supporting it by coming out and skating made it a success. It really was a group effort,” she said.

Anyone still craving an outdoor winter activity can participate in the Polar Ice Plunge at 1 p.m. Jan. 30 at the East Peoria Boat Club, which was postponed from earlier in the month due to flooding, or visit Wildlife Prairie Park from 6 to 8 a.m. Feb. 2 to see if resident groundhog Gertie predicts an early spring.

–Downtown holiday skating rink far exceeds expectation–