Capitola ice skating rink opens Friday

Nahla Nelson might be young, but she’s already got a list of dream jobs.

“One thing that I want to be when I grow up is a scientist because I’m already really smart,” Nahla said. “Another thing I want to be an architect.”

But before Nahlah goes on to change the world, it seems she’s got to prove herself in the rink.

“Once this girl Maddy, she was making fun of me, saying I couldn’t skate. And it was only my first time!” Nahla said.

Capitola’s first ever synthetic ice skating rink could be the perfect spot for some practice runs.

Nahla and her mom, Juliana Nelson, came to the Central Coast to escape the smoke from the
Thomas Fire in Santa Barbara.

“I’ve had two kids here in Santa Cruz and that was one thing I felt was always missing here, an ice skating rink,” Nelson said.

This year, a crew came all the way from Boston to put together the rink that won’t melt.

“It’s large puzzle pieces that connect together. After it’s all together and cleaned, I spray a synthetic lubricant on it and we let it sit for five minutes and then we can just skate on it with regular ice skates,” said Merrill Ouimet, with Artificial Ice assembling the rink.

Business owners in Capitola Village are providing this holiday fun.

“Our goal is to do two things, certainly to boost our sales and business in the village for the winter and the holiday season, but also to kind of give back to the locals who put up with an awful lot in our summer tourism season,” said Corrie Sid, owner of the Capitola Hotel.

The rink opens at 10 a.m. Friday.