A 50-year Forest Park legacy One of St. Louis’ most beautiful landmarks, the Mark C. Steinberg Ice Skating Rink in Forest Park, celebrates its 50th anniversary this month. Ceremonies at the rink last Saturday included presentations, skating races and figure skating demonstrations. This Saturday, it will be 50 years to the day since it opened. The holiday season and Steinberg are as well matched as a pair of lovers out for a nighttime skate. Rink regulars regard the season as amateur weeks, but families, couples and friends flock to the rink, escaping the confines of home for a skate, hot cocoa and a place to warm together by the fire pit. Few places generate as many smiles as Steinberg does, and no wonder: Tykes waddle across the ice like penguins. Grownups inhale fresh air and exhale their stresses and anxieties. Teens and lovers of all ages “spark” as much as they skate. Last Valentine’s Day, Steinberg was voted the most romantic spot in St. Louis. Yet despite a $1.4 million renovation a few years ago, the rink faces ongoing challenges, and some big-hat benefactors would be welcome. — A fully automated cooling system would eliminate the need to have a full-time system supervisor on site at all times during the skating season. — A backup Zamboni machine — to replace the 1960s-era dinosaur — would help address the build up of so-called false ice: rain caused cracks and fissures creating dangers for skaters. — An air-conditioning system for the main building would expand Steinberg’s use, and availability for summertime events to help offset costs. — A complete overhaul of the 50-year-old restroom facilities is, to put it mildly, essential. The bronze plaque affixed to its building tells the story of the people who made the rink complex a reality: “Mark C. Steinberg (1881-1951) was a self-taught investment banker who liked to give back to the community. He especially loved young people and sports. In all activities, he maintained the highest ethical standards. As a youngster, growing up in North St. Louis, Mr. Steinberg left school to work as an office boy in a brokerage firm. By 1915, he had his own company, which flourished until the stock market crash of 1929. In 1932, as the Great Depression continued, the company went bankrupt. Later, Mr. Steinberg made an even greater fortune, and he made good on a promise to repay all of his debtors in full. When Mr. Steinberg died, he left millions of dollars in a charitable foundation. His widow, Etta Steinberg, conceived the idea of Steinberg Rink and dedicated some of the foundation money to have it built for the enjoyment of all citizens, especially young people.” Etta Eiseman Steinberg found inspiration for the application of her late husband’s benevolence when she visited New York and saw Central Park’s skating rink. The Steinberg Charitable Trust Fund donated $565,000 for the rink’s construction, a sum that equates to several million in today’s dollars, which covered about two-thirds of the project’s construction costs. The city of St. Louis provided the balance. Planners found an ideal site for it at the east end of Forest Park in a valley hollow, guarded by a lake on one end and a marsh on the other. Evergreens and winter’s bare trees border the rink, and a steep hill screens out the noise of Kingshighway. Yet the impressive skylines of the Chase Hotel, Park Plaza apartments and the Barnes-Jewish-Children’s hospital complex tower above the hill to the east. Outdoor ice skating serves an antidote to cabin fever. It’s a place to enjoy cold, blue-skied days with Canadian geese flying in formation overhead; burnt orange and coral sunsets in the west, rising waxing or waning moons that illuminate the night skies. At 230 feet by 120 feet, Steinberg is the third largest outdoor public skating rink in America. It dwarfs conventional indoor ice surfaces, and the peaceful experience it offers cannot be replicated on the smaller ice surfaces of walled and roofed indoor rinks where shouts and music reverberate in their refrigerated echo chambers. Ice skating in Forest Park has been enjoyed by countless St. Louisans and visitors for 50 years, including thousands of the benefactor’s favored class: young people. Many of us have grown older, but we return each season to join a new crop of youngsters in sharing our Steinberg experience. It is a legacy worth preserving. St. Louis Post-Dispatch Thursday, Nov. 22 2007 |
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2 replies on “Steinberg Skating Rink”
Touched my heart.
Touched my heart for sure, Paul. I was confused at first, thinking this was a message from you about needed improvements. And the math didn’t add up. I know I was skating there by the early sixties. Thinking this was a recent advocacy for the rink, the fifty year anniversary would have made me an adult, rather than an eight or nine year old.
Skating at Stienberg as a kid. Simpler times for sure. And nothing beats skating outdoors.