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After being closed for renovations for the past 10 months, the skating rink at the Pacific Northwest's greatest shopping mall is back open.
Related: An appreciation of Lloyd Center, the Pacific Northwest's best shopping mall
Lloyd Center's rink, which first opened in 1960, has been the location of so many girls' Barbie Swan Princess moment, as well as where beloved native figure skater Olympian Tonya Harding learned to skate.
It's undergone some magical changes in the year it's been closed. The sky bridges are gone, and it's now a smaller atrium rink that's centered around a Christmas tree. The rink has new skates, updated their party rooms and fake snow now falls from the mall's centerpiece.
"The fake snow just pushes everyone over the edge," 18-year veteran rink manager Donald Baldwin tells WW. "We get squeals of delight every time it goes off."
He's seen both the mall and rink change considerably in the past two decades.
"The mall's always updating," he says. "The last big renovation was when they put the roof on the place in the early 90s." Before, a third of the rink was uncovered.
Baldwin was also at the rink when Tanya Harding worked as a coach there in the early 2000's.
"[Harding skating here] is the claim to fame we don't like to admit," he says. "But Tonya is a wonderful person."
Related: Where to Ice Skate Around Portland
On December 3, Santa will visit the skating rink from 9 am-11 am.
Lloyd Center Ice Rink is at 953 Lloyd Center, 288-6073, 10am-5 pm; 6:30-9:30 pm Monday, Wednesday, 10 am-5 pm, 7:30-9:30 pm Tuesday, 10 am-10 pm Friday-Saturday & 11 am-6 pm Sunday (closed Thanksgiving,) $13-15 admission, $4 skate rental.