Image: Vladimir Filonov / MT

After seeing significant changes after the introduction of new management, Moscow’s Gorky Park is bringing in visitors by the thousands with the introduction of a new ice rink.

The head of Moscow’s culture department, Sergei Kapkov, said, “American can do this, Europe can do this and now we want to show that Moscow can too.” Opening last month, Kapkov says the keywords to the Gorky Park ice rink are “atmosphere, friendliness and community.” Gorky Park claims that this new ice rink is Europe’s largest – measuring in at 150,000 square meters. Because of special technology, the rink has been open non-stop since December and guests can enjoy it all the way through until the middle of March.

There is one main ice road and additional paths that go around the park. Wooden bridges connect one entrance to another and there are no changing rooms onsite. In comparison to Moscow’s former ice rink, this new one is being described as “smart and clean.”

Kapkov was recently put in charge of the park and since then its reputation has been cleaned up significantly. There are currently yoga lessons, events, lectures and even free Wi-Fi available. Four new cafes and restaurants have popped up at the rink, including one from the same group as Jean Jacques and Café Mart. The changes are already attracting thousands of new visitors.

It hasn’t been entirely smooth sailing for the rink up to this point, though. In the beginning, skate rentals were free but the park saw hundreds stolen so now a deposit fee of $47 has been introduced. Another minor issue the park saw were long lines over the holidays – good news for the park, not such good news for the guests. To accommodate the long lines, management has opened three additional entrances to help with the flow of visitors.

The rink also features a children’s area, a figure-skating rink, a figure skating school and an ice hockey rink.

Children under the age of 7 get into the rink for free.

Source: The Moscow Times

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