Summer skating on ice rink

NHL-style fun. Photo / Supplied

Forget sunbathing - this summer Aucklanders will have the chance to ice-skate in the city centre.

Aotea Square will resemble New York's Central Park as a full sized NHL-style rink, measuring 56m by 26m, is installed in January.

The rink requires 200,000 litres of water, which will take up to 72 hours to freeze - and after six weeks it will be melted.

The water has to be melted so the rink can be shifted. It will spend six weeks in Christchurch's Hagley Park this winter, another six weeks on Wellington's waterfront during the Rugby World Cup and the same period in Hamilton's Garden Square, before reaching Auckland.

Promoters say a similar rink was installed successfully in Dubai. "Generators keep the ice chilled and it is just a matter of turning it up a bit to cope with Auckland's summer humidity," says Christchurch-based event promoter Craig Douglas.

The structure, valued at $4.2 million, is being shipped from Amsterdam. The upcoming three-match ice hockey series will be played on the rink in July (one match each in Auckland, Christchurch and Dunedin), before the rink is opened to the public.

Promoters are opening the rink to the public to offset some of the costs of bringing it to New Zealand for the competition series between exhibition NHL teams representing the United States and Canada.

For more information go here.