Bowling Green’s SOKY Ice Rink is back, and its season will be extended for a second straight year to provide more time for skillet curling, pond hockey, and skating instruction.

The eighth season for the outdoor rink located in the SOKY Marketplace Pavilion opens Friday, with a Bowling Green Area Chamber of Commerce ribbon cutting planned for 4 p.m., and will extend until Jan. 26, 2025.

Started in 2016 with a season that ended shortly after New Year’s Day, the ice rink and its offerings have evolved to the point that the county officials overseeing it saw the need to extend the season last year.

Warren Fiscal Court invests more than $140,000 for Texas-based Ice Rink Events to set up the 6,000-square-foot rink, but Warren County Stormwater Management Director Nikki Koller says it’s a good investment that has proven to be popular with local residents looking for wintertime activities.

“It’s a very successful and popular program,” said Koller, who oversees the ice rink along with county parks and recreation staff. “The community loves it. I’m proud of the fact that we’ve expanded beyond just skating.”

That expansion has meant the introduction of pond hockey — a scaled-down version of ice hockey — and skillet curling, an oddball cousin of the curling sport seen in the winter Olympics.

Koller said Warren County Inline Hockey has scheduled hockey camps for youngsters and adults, pond hockey competitions, and even a visit from staff of the Nashville Predators NHL team to teach hockey skills.

Skillet curling has grown since its introduction at the SOKY Ice Rink in 2019, and Koller said 16 teams are signed up for seasons planned for November and January.

This ice rink season will again include storytime activities for children provided under a “snowdome” by the Warren County Public Library on Thursdays at 4 and 4:30 p.m.

Koller said a Festival of Trees event in which local businesses sponsor trees and decorate them has grown this year. The tree-decorating competition is a fundraiser this year for the Med Center Health Foundation.

“We had 10 trees last year,” Koller said. “We have 12 lined up already and could have as many as 14.”

To accommodate skillet curling, pond hockey and other special events, the ice rink is open for public skating only on Thursdays and Fridays from 4-9 p.m. and on Saturdays and Sundays from 1-9 p.m.

More information about the ice rink schedule and admission prices can be found at the warrencountyky.gov/soky-ice-rink website.