In honor of the Riverwest People's Ice Rink opening for the season over the weekend, we've rerun this piece from December 2020. Only applicable links have been updated – and for more information on the rink, click here.

Everyone knows the Pettit and Red Arrow Park's Slice of Ice – now open! – but there's another slick spot for Milwaukeeans looking for some outdoor winter fun on ice: the Riverwest People's Ice Rink. 

The icy space – found behind Cafe Corazon, between Fratney and Bremen – has served as a source of entertainment in the area for years, created and funded by volunteers around the neighborhood. But how does this impressive DIY rink come to wintry life? And what's the history of these kind of makeshift ice rinks around the City of Milwaukee?

Here's a nifty video – created and posted to Facebook by Joe Brusky Photography, and starring Riverwestian Chris Fons as your lead subject – briefly taking you behind the scenes of neighbors putting together the People's Ice Rink, some history of similar rinks throughout Milwaukee and talking about what it represents to the locals. It doesn't have many technical answers, so if you want to build your own, you'll have to investigate that for yourself, but it does show you the impressive community effort that brings this impressive frozen feat to life – all not in the name of making money, but just for making the winter more open, more available and more fun for everyone.

The Riverwest People's Ice Rink is open for free to the public when the ice is frozen and the weather allows. For updates, check out the People's Ice Rink's Facebook page.