Take Two translates the day’s headlines for Southern California, making sense of the news and cultural events that affect our lives. Produced by Southern California Public Radio and broadcast from October 2012 – June 2021. Hosted by A Martinez.
Southern California is known for its warm winters. That weather usually doesn't lend itself to many traditional holiday activities.
But there's one place in Downtown L.A. that lets people experience some outdoor winter merriment -- the Pershing Square ice rink.
"This rink is actually the biggest in L.A. right now," said Matt Kessinger, with Willie Bietak Productions, a company that's built and installed the ice rink at Pershing Square since 1997.
"Because it's been here so long, it's kind of become the holiday staple for a lot of people," Kessinger said.
There's a lot that goes into putting an ice rink in the middle of Los Angeles. That includes something as simple as making sure that the rink is a flat, smooth surface.
"If you don’t have a level surface, obviously, then water will pool in a certain area so we’ve got to make sure everything is lined up together correctly," Kessinger said. "It’s quite a science."
The ice is real, but a hot day actually doesn't pose as much of a risk of melting the rink as another weather condition does.
"The sun really isn’t as much of a factor as wind. When it’s really windy, the friction of the wind actually causes the ice to melt," Kessinger said.
But his team has plenty of experience dealing with the weather. With thousands of people coming here to skate throughout the season, they plan to use that experience to make sure the 20th anniversary of the ice rink goes as planned.
"It’s quite a big deal especially to be at a landmark location. One location for 20 years like this is pretty awesome," Kessinger said.