Wollman Rink, located in the southern section of Central Park in Manhattan, New York City, is a public ice skating rink and since the Wollman family provided the initial funding for its development, it bears the family’s name.
After being proposed in 1946, Wollman Rink finally opened its doors in 1950. In late 1980, the rink closed for refurbishment and didn’t return until November 1986.
After the refurbishment, the New York City government contracted with The Trump Organization to run the rink through 1995 and then again from 2001 to 2021.
Since 2003 to now (late May to early September), the location has been home to Victorian Gardens, a children’s amusement park run by Central Amusement International, LLC, the company responsible for the Luna Park amusement park in Coney Island, Brooklyn.
The southeast corner of Central Park is home to the ice skating rink and this area is the old Pond, which was east of Wollman Rink. During the middle of the twentieth century, the western portion of the Pond was filled in and drained.
With rides “particularly oriented to youngsters 2-12 years old,” Victorian Gardens debuted to the public for the first time in the summer of 2003.
Summertime rock, pop, country, and jazz concerts were held at the rink until 1980. The original seating capacity of the “Wollman Theater” (also known as the “Wollman Skating Rink Theater”) was 4,400; in 1972, bleachers were installed to boost that number to 8,000.
Billie Holiday, Bud Powell, Lionel Hampton, Dave Brubeck, Dizzy Gillespie, Buddy Rich, Dinah Washington, Stan Getz, and many others performed in WOR’s “Jazz Beneath The Stars” performances, which were held over the course of 15 nights during the summer of 1957.
Year music festivals including 30–50 concerts per summer were held at the rink from 1966–1980.
Some of the biggest names in rock performed there, such as Todd Rundgren’s Utopia, Jimi Hendrix and the Experience, The Who, Led Zeppelin, The Beach Boys and the Patti Smith Group.
Many other genres were also represented, such as country by Earl Scruggs and John Lee Hooker and rhythm and blues by The Supremes and jazz by Buddy Rich and the Count Basie Orchestra.
Era of Reconstruction: 1980-1986
The New York City Parks and Recreation Department began planning a refurbishment of the rink in 1974, which included replacing the brinewater refrigeration system with liquid Freon to save operating expenses during a time of rising fuel prices. Plans to upgrade Wollman Rink in the southeast corner of the park cost $4 million and were revealed in January 1975.
New plans to dredge the Pond and redesign the landscaping in the southeast corner of the park’s $2.5 million by the Central Park Task Force, an organization of NYC Parks, in late 1975. In light of the New York City budget crisis of 1975, all future endeavors were put on hold.
In the winter of 1980, the concrete floor of the rink crumbled, forcing its closure; repairs were expected to cost up to $4.9 million and take two years.
Trump then made an offer to Mayor Ed Koch to restore Wollman Rink at his own expense within six months in exchange for long-term leases to run the rink and an adjacent restaurant.
The two parties settled on an arrangement where Trump would contribute the proceeds from the rink and restaurant to charity and the city would reimburse him for the costs up to a certain cap.
Rink attendance increased from 130,000 in 1980 to 250,000 in 1987 after ticket prices were hiked from $2.50 to $4.00 when it reopened in November 1986 and the Trump Organization agreed to donate the majority of its profits to the city for public improvements and charity.
The organization agreed to pay for the electricity costs of the ice rink (to the tune of $50,000) and donating to organizations like United Cerebral Palsy, the Partnership for the Homeless, and Gay Men’s Health Crisis.
With no explanation, the Trump Organization in 2019 took down most Trump-related signage and emblems from both Wollman and Lasker Rinks. The Trump Organization’s last operating season saw daily entry prices of $12 for adults, $19 on Friday through Sunday and holidays, and $6 every day of the week for children under the age of 11.
New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio declared on January 13, 2021, that the city government will be terminating all contracts with the Trump Organization since Trump was allegedly implicated in the storming of the United States Capitol the previous week.
In November of 2021, the rink reopened with a brand new clubhouse.
The Wollman Rink has been featured in a number of movies throughout the years, including Love Story (1970), Carnal Knowledge (1971), The Devil’s Own (1997), Serendipity (2001), Night at the Museum (2006), Mr. Popper’s Penguins (2011), and Home Alone 2: Lost in New York (2011). (1992).