With just one month into the ice skating season for the skate ribbon in Riverfront Park, thousands of people have laced up their skates.
The Skate Ribbon officially opened on December 8, 2017. It was a unique attraction Spokane shared with just a handful of other cities in the nation. In the first nine days of being open the ribbon had 11,195 visitors. The first month there were even more skaters.
This year, the ribbon opened on November 17. And in the first month there were 13,750 skaters. During the time of Dec. 8 to 17 there have been about 4,311 visitors to the skate ribbon.
City Parks and Recreation staff expected all the excitement to wind down in the second year. The goal this year is for 50,000 visitors by the end of the of ice skating season depending on how early it starts to warm up.
In the final season at the Ice Palace in the Pavilion there were about 30,600.
A Parks and Recreation spokesperson said the ribbon is performing better than the palace. And they anticipate more attendance at the ribbon when schools let out for winter break.