Civic Park ice rink grows for its 20th season, opening in November

Specialty refrigeration technicians and City of Walnut Creek Arts and Recreation crews began assembling the 20th anniversary Walnut Creek on Ice outdoor skating pavilion on Friday morning at Civic Park along Civic Drive and North Broadway. Produced in partnership with the Walnut Creek Downtown Business Association, this winter's installation expands the frozen skating surface to 9,200 square feet—nearly 15 percent larger than prior layouts—and introduces a separate fenced "Frosty's Tubing Lane" alongside the main oval. Over the next fourteen days, engineers will connect 32,000 linear feet of glycol cooling mats before building up three inches of layered ice ahead of the Friday, November 13 public opening through January 18, 2027.

To reduce energy consumption and acoustic impact on surrounding Civic Park paths and the library courtyard, organizers replaced legacy diesel backup generators with grid-tied variable-frequency electric chillers powered through Walnut Creek's 100 percent renewable MCE Deep Green municipal electricity account. The pavilion perimeter also features a newly covered cedar spectator deck with radiant heat lamps, fire-pit lounge seating, and locker cubbies overlooking San Ramon Valley Creek.

Community accessibility programming will expand this season with dedicated sensory-friendly morning sessions on the first and third Sundays of each month, where arena music is lowered and complimentary adaptive sled-skates are available for skaters using wheelchairs or mobility aids. Local elementary physical education classes within the Walnut Creek School District can also book subsidized weekday morning field-trip blocks through a youth recreation grant fund.

Online session reservations, multi-visit family passes, and curling league registrations opened Friday at noon to help skaters bypass weekend box-office lines. Residents can book ninety-minute skating windows, reserve private rinkside cabanas, or check Broadway Garage validation hours via the Walnut Creek on Ice Official Portal or at the Civic Park Community Center desk at 1375 Civic Drive.