Off the Map: Ice rink draws eager skaters to Hawkeye

HAWKEYE - Eight years ago, Keith Koravik decided to respond to complaints from area youth that there was nothing to do in the wintertime in the small Fayette County town of Hawkeye.

'I decided that I was going to pursue this idea of creating an ice rink and I did it the first two years without using a liner or a bladder or whatever,” Koravik said. 'I just used fire hoses and sprayed water on the tennis courts” at Hauth Park.

Koravik said the third year, he made a proposal to city and community clubs to get some money to buy a liner, and has been using one ever since. Most of the funding for the rink comes from donations or the budget for the city and park.

A warming house also was installed in the third year of operation, Koravik said. The heated shelter has bathrooms and a storage room, which is large enough for people to sit and put on skates.

'It's amazing how much that gets used for little birthday parties,” Koravik said. 'They go down and have hot chocolate and stuff.”

He even created a homemade Zamboni-like vehicle, basically 'just a big tank on wheels,” which releases water and smooths it out.

'It doesn't shave ice like a real Zamboni,” he said. 'When it's super cold, it's perfect because the water gets on the ice and freezes instantly.”

Koravik said people from within a 20 to 30 mile radius of Hawkeye regularly use the rink, which is 'not even a block from where I live.”

He said the length of the rink's season depends on the weather.

'Last year the rink was open by Dec. 10. This year it didn't open until Jan. 5,” Koravik said. Warm weather, he said, 'makes the top of the ice get really slushy and typically I wouldn't let kids skate when it's like that.”

The rink is open as long as it is safe for skating. If he is applying new water to the rink or it's too warm, there is a gate that locks.

Koravik said some kids only will skate when it's between 28 and 32 degrees, but there's a group that likes to come out when it's quite cold.

'The colder it is, the harder the ice is, which means you can go faster,” Koravik said. 'It's better for hockey.”

Koravik, who also owns a nursery in town, rents out skates, hockey sticks and pucks from his garage, which is always accessible when he is home. If he isn't there, he provides a code for people to get in.

'I started doing this and nobody had any skates,” he said. 'People haven't skated outside forever, it's something you don't do anymore. It would be kind of pointless to have a rink and not have a place to get skates.”

Skates are $5 a pair for 24 hours, and the other equipment rents for $2. The money he makes helps pay for more equipment, he said, adding he doesn't make a profit.

'I have 40 pairs of skates. It would take forever to even pay for what I have,” he said.

The popularity of the rentals 'kind of goes in cycles,” he said, 'because kids will skate 3, 4, or 5 times and rent skates and then they figure out they really enjoy it and then they go buy skates.”

Koravik said he has no plans to stop operating the rink.

'I do it honestly it gives me something to do,” he said. 'It serves a purpose and it gets used. If it didn't get used I wouldn't do it.”