On a Monday evening in late September, the South Haven City Council held its regular meeting outdoors, under the Huron Street Pavilion. The city handed out free hot dogs and drinks, and the South Haven High School Band opened the meeting with its homecoming halftime show. Partway through the updates, Public Works Director Dana Burd listed the ice rink as scheduled for final commissioning of its new system under the pavilion, according to the South Haven Tribune.
The audience was sitting on top of that system. Since spring, the rink's chilling elements have been set into a concrete slab under the pavilion. For years the rink had to be rebuilt from scratch every fall, and now it doesn't. The work that used to stand between the first cold week and the first skater is mostly gone. The main thing left to wait on is the weather.
Two Weeks of Gravel, Walls and Coils
Under the old method, the rink was a construction project every fall. Suzanne Brock, director of the Downtown Development Authority, laid out the steps for the South Haven Tribune:
- Truck in loads of gravel to level a lip that rises in the middle of the pavilion floor.
- Make sure the surface is perfectly even.
- Put up the rink walls.
- Lay down the cooling coils.
- Build up the layers and freeze the ice.
"It could take up to two weeks just to get that rink in ready for use. Now with this new cooling system, we won't need to gravel and it won't take all that manpower."
Every spring the whole thing came apart again. City Manager Kate Hosier described it to WSJM in February as a rink "that takes a lot of time and effort to construct each fall and a lot of time and effort to deconstruct each spring." She said the improvements would "sink into new concrete the chilling elements, so that we do not have to build such a large gravel base as well as new coils every year."
That work happened this year. In late April, crews used around 25 cement mixers to pour 300 yards of concrete, which serves as the rink surface and as the pad for the pavilion, WSJM reported. The project also included parking improvements at the site.
Why the DDA Paid for It Without the Grant
The project was never optional. According to Brock, the DDA board had spent a couple of years discussing the rink because it knew the chiller and the cooling system both had to be replaced. While they talked it through, the board found the cooling system could be buried under the pavilion, so nobody would have to install and remove it each year.
The DDA applied for a grant to cover the cost and didn't get it. The board went ahead anyway. In Brock's words to the Tribune, "if we buried the cooling system underneath, we would have to replace it anyway." The city council approved bonds for the project, and the DDA repays them.
Hosier put the work at about $2 million. The council's resolution authorized up to $2 million in bonds and refinanced some existing DDA bonds, which she said would save between $24,000 and $26,000. Earlier Tribune coverage gave a $2.6 million bond figure. The two outlets report different numbers, and that difference stands.
The case Hosier made was about upkeep and staff time. She told WSJM the change would save on maintenance and crew hours every year. The ice itself and the length of the season were not part of the pitch.
What Concrete Can't Do on the Lakeshore
The rink is still outdoors, a few blocks from Lake Michigan. Last season showed how much the weather controls it.
By mid-February 2026, with about two weeks of skating left, the city put last winter's count at 5,700 visitors, a little below past years. City staff blamed West Michigan weather and lake effect. Some days were so cold that the city kept the rink closed, because few people would have come out to skate. Warm weather has caused trouble too. The Herald-Palladium has reported a season opening delayed by unseasonably warm temperatures, and city notices say the rink depends on weather and ice conditions.
The equipment had its own limits. In earlier coverage of a rink upgrade, the Herald-Palladium described an aging chiller that couldn't keep up on warmer days, sometimes leaving only two-thirds of the rink usable. The chillers have since been replaced, as Brock noted in the Tribune.
Taken together, the new slab removes the delay the city controlled, which was the two-week build. Thaws, deep-cold snaps and lake-effect storms still happen. When a cold stretch arrives this year, the crew shouldn't need two weeks of gravel and coil work before the rink can freeze. That's the realistic gain, and it's a real one. Nobody has promised a longer season, and the rink is no more weatherproof than before.
The Pavilion Has a Summer Job Too
Faster setup in the fall is half of it. The pavilion also has to switch back every spring.
Hosier calls the Huron Street structure "a four-season pavilion." When the ice comes out, the space hosts the farmers market and other warm-weather events. This year's construction schedule shows how tight that changeover is. Skating ended March 1, and the pavilion closed from March 2 through June 15 for the work. Crews built the project in phases. The first phase was timed so the farm market could use the pavilion in summer, and the second for this winter's skating season.
The DDA has also prepared the pavilion for more uses. Brock told the Tribune the electrical system was replaced. Before that, its main use was holiday lights. Now the space can handle food trucks, events like Touch-a-Truck and farmers market vendors who need power. Bids for a Pavilion Roof Replacement Project were awarded in September, with construction planned for the end of that month, according to the same council update.
With no gravel to haul out and no coils to pull up, the pavilion should be easier to switch from ice to market and back.
Before the First Skate
As of late October, the city hasn't posted an opening date, hours or prices for 2026–27. The Visit South Haven rink listing still links to last season's schedule. Here is what's known so far:
- Last season's rates: The city's November 10, 2025 release set admission at $6, skate rental at $6 and a season pass at $70. These are 2025–26 prices and may change.
- School skate days: The same release offered school field trips with free admission and skate rental, in partnership with area elementary schools. By mid-February 2026, more than 1,500 students had skated free during last winter's season. Whether the program returns this year hasn't been announced.
- Concessions and skate helpers: Both are on the Visit South Haven listing.
- Holiday in the Haven, Saturday, December 5: Museum crafts, Cocoa with the Captain, a 5 p.m. parade, the tree lighting in Dyckman Park and Santa photos starting at 5:30 p.m., per Visit South Haven. Skating isn't on the event program.
- 33rd Annual Ice Breaker Festival, February 5–7, 2027: Outdoor ice skating is on the festival listing.
The City of South Haven posts rink announcements, and it also runs a rink camera page that has shown construction since at least a November 2018 time lapse. Once the first sustained cold arrives this fall, the camera will show how quickly the new slab freezes.
At Amy O'Sullivan, I follow how projects like the Huron Street Pavilion change everyday life downtown, from the farmers market to the first night on the ice. If you own near Dyckman Park and want to know how the area's year-round amenities affect what your home could sell for, reach out and get your home valuation.
