Miller: Depot Pond rich in ice skating history

If you live in Batavia or the Fox Valley area, there's a good chance you've been ice skating at the Depot Pond on the Batavia Riverwalk. The cold weather moves in; the pond freezes over, and ice skating commences. Many local families look forward to skating on the pond every winter. They head to the Batavia Riverwalk, lace up their skates and hit the ice.

But the Depot Pond didn't always look the way it does now. At one time, the entire area – including the Batavia Depot Museum, Walgreens and McDonald's – was a channel of the Fox River. That's how Island Avenue got its name, according to Chris Winter, Depot Museum curator.

"Island Avenue was, in fact, an island at one time," said Winter. "That section wasn't a main part of the river so it always froze quicker."

And the tradition of ice skating began.

Back in the '40s and '50s, skaters would stay warm by building fires in metal trash bins. It wasn't until the Batavia Depot Museum was moved to its current location on the Riverwalk that skaters had an official warming house. The basement of the museum was used as a warming house from 1975 until 1990 when it was converted into exhibit space. Today, skaters have access to the Peg Bond Center as a place to warm up and take a break from skating.

During the winter of 1957, an artist from Nebraska named John Falter was visiting his sister in the Fox Valley area. He came across skaters on the pond and decided to sketch it.

"He thought it was a whimsical scene," Winter said. "He had a style very similar to Norman Rockwell."

Falter then completed a painting of his sketch and submitted it to the Saturday Evening Post, a popular magazine with a nationwide reach. In January 1958, the painting of skaters on the Depot Pond appeared on the cover of the Saturday Evening Post.

"That painting put Batavia on the national map," said Winter.

Decades ago, skaters took a great risk in ice skating at Depot Pond. "People used to leave their shoes on the river bank and test the ice," Winter said. Today there are regulations for how thick the ice has to be, and the Batavia Park District staff takes great care in preparing the ice for safe skating. Crews drill holes in the ice and measure the depth in several areas.

"We check the depth every day, twice a day, including on the weekends," said Kim Hansen, grounds maintenance supervisor for the park district.

Once the ice reaches a depth of 10 inches, the crew takes machines onto the ice to clear the snow.

"The depth of 10 inches makes it safe for us to get our machines on the ice," Hansen said. 

After the ice is a safe depth and the snow has been cleared, the skating begins.

When the weather is right, Depot Pond is a popular place after school and on weekends for casual ice skaters or hockey players. Whether you're new to the sport or a seasoned veteran, be sure to head down to the Batavia Riverwalk to experience the tradition of ice skating at the Depot Pond. 

For information about skating at the Depot Pond, please visit www.bataviaparks.org.

• Kari Miller is marketing and public relations manager at the Batavia Park District. Contact her at editorial@kc chronicle.com.