Moscow, October 4, 2014 (RIA Novosti) - The largest skating rink in Europe is set to open at Moscow’s All-Russian Exhibition Center (VDNKh) later this year, Russian news source Moskva 24 reports.
The 2.05 hectare (5.07 acre) skating rink will be situated near the Friendship of Nations fountain; it will begin operations by the end of November, and will be the largest such rink in Europe.
Moscow’s authorities are carrying out negotiations with local builders for the rink’s construction. The rink, complete with all necessary infrastructure, will cost about 19 million USD.
A food court will be set up near the rink, allowing visitors to grab a snack before or after they skate.
The source noted that by the end of this year, VDNKh will also unveil a “unified concept for development”, continuing the park’s goal to become a major world cultural and exposition center and the main park of the Russian capital, as well as its main museum complex.
The park completed the first round of its reconstruction earlier this summer, in honor of the 75th anniversary of its opening, as part of Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin’s ongoing initiative to “freshen up” and revitalize the territory. The center’s fountains, facades and exhibition buildings were restored, and over 300 kiosks and other quasi-legal, semi-permanent buildings which had been set up over the last several decades were removed.
Later this year, a 16.2 hectare (40 acre) oceanarium is set to open.
Earlier this year, a one hectare skate park was opened on the territory, together with several playgrounds, a soccer field, artificial ponds, hiking trails and bike paths.
The VDNKh exhibition center was originally established in the 1930s to show off Soviet economic achievements. Earlier this year, the center’s Soviet-era name – the Exhibition of Achievements of the People’s Economy, was re-introduced following an interactive poll.
