DETROIT (WXYZ) — The 21st annual Detroit tree lighting event brought out thousands to kick off the holiday season in Downtown at Campus Martius Park.
Alex Fields, 41, leads the operations team at Campus Martius Park.
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"I've been here all my life. I've worked at this park for the last 18 years," said Fields.
One aspect of his job is to take care of the rink.
"How happy do you feel about maintaining the rink?" asked Faraz Javed, 7 News Detroit reporter.
"I mean it brings me joy, especially given it's November, and the weather doesn't always cooperate, so just getting this off the ground, having our first day as the tree lighting when we have figure skaters out here. It's always a monumental task, and it is a point of pride, that we get this going. And pull this show every year," said Fields.
On Friday alone, over 110,000 people attended the annual tree-lighting event. And since over a million people visit the area during the holiday season, Fields says during peak times, he has to whip out the Zamboni every hour and a half.
"How hard is it to maintain a rink like this?" asked Javed.
"If you have the right equipment, you can get lucky, everything can go pretty smoothly. The biggest thing is the weather. Rain, snow, sleet all those things, factor in, so you can have long days, long nights where you are constantly adjusting and have to keep an eye on everything that's going on," said Fields.
And since it's one of the biggest rinks across southeast Michigan, Downtown Detroit Partnership's Laura Dean says it soon may be titled the best in the nation.
"Now we are actually in a competition to win USA Today's top 10 rinks. We have 15 days of voting left. It's a free vote; anyone can vote," said Dean.
The 60-foot x 120-foot rink takes about two weeks to build and comes with several unique elements.
"It is picturesque; you come here and skate, see the tree at campus Martius Park. You get to experience being downtown in the colder weather, you can shop local, you can eat local. It's really one of those things people look forward to every year, and we also have ... proposals on the rink. Last year, we saw probably 20 proposals on the rink," said Dean.
To make sure everyone has the best experience, the rink has also adopted newer technology over the last 21 years. Alex says this year's rink cools from the center to the end.
"So this is a brand new set of boards, and a whole new manning system, and a whole new base. So the manning is all the small tubes that are running the coolant underneath that keep the ice frozen. So this year, that is all new, and redesigned ... and so we are expecting it to be a more stable rink in warmer conditions," said Fields.
The rink at Campus Martius is open daily, including the holidays, until March 2. To learn more, click here.
