Fall River City Council approves $325,000 in ARPA funds for ice skating rink as part of Fall River’s 1st Winter Wonderland Festival of Lights

Fall River’s Kennedy Park will not only be decked out in festive lights in a few months, but it will also have an ice-skating rink.

At Tuesday’s Fall River City Council meeting, councilors approved the Coogan Administration’s appropriation of $325,000 in Bristol County ARPA funds for a rink to be rented at the park during the city’s 1st Winter Wonderland Festival of Lights.

The idea, which is the brainchild of Justin Rutkowski and Roxanne Longstone, is set to take place beginning December 2nd and continue throughout the month.

Rutkowski stated that he and Roxanne had the idea of the Winter Wonderland last year after they held the Halloween event at City Hall, but due to time restrictions, they decided to wait until this year.

“We got approved by the Park Board to light up the park. We worked on this, Roxanne especially, the last few months.”

The pair thought it would be great to have the pond at Kennedy Park frozen during the month-long event, however, due to its size, they decided to reach out to a company that rents out rinks, however, it was determined that the electrical cannot handle the temporary rink so, weather permitting, the park rink will be frozen to skate.

In addition to the park being lit all month long, there will be entertainment on Saturdays.

Rutkowski and Longstone are looking for volunteers to help put on the festival and have created a Facebook group called Winter Wonderland where supporters can gather, collaborate, and stay up to date.