The ice rink located on Shaw Field opened for student use this Thursday, although work will continue through the weekend to ensure that the ice is as smooth and glossy as possible.

Audrey Kohout ’14, the Program Board representative currently in charge of the rink, expressed enthusiasm for the new attraction on campus.

“We want students to use it, be safe and have fun,” she said. “Program Board will also be doing some programming around the rink and we are really excited about that.”

There are several rules for the rink designed to maintain the safety of skaters, most of which relate to the necessary weather conditions for operation (including a temperature between -10°F and 32°F). The rules were devised by Kai Wilson ’14, the head of the Ice Rink Committee last semester, with oversight provided by Jim Hoppe, the Dean of Students, and Doug Rosenberg, the Director of Budget and Institutional Services.

The ice rink, which has been in the works since 2011, was originally proposed as a way to utilize a portion of MCSG rollover dollars. Over the past semester, the formation of the Ice Rink Committee and final Facilities approval paved the way for project development.

“Basically, we have our start-up expenses, and then the expenses for maintaining the rink with the plan of the rollover money supporting the rink for five years,” Kohout said.

The rink will close when it is no longer cold enough for students to skate on it, which Kohout estimated would happen in late February or early March. After the rink is closed for student usage, the structure will be stored in a facility not far from campus until the fall semester.

“Hopefully it is cold enough next December that we have the ice rink up from then until the beginning of March, but if we have another warm December it will open in January,” Kohout said.