Will Outdoor Ice Rink Help Bring Downtown K Street Businesses Back?

SACRAMENTO (CBS13) — The Downtown Sacramento ice rink opened Thursday for the first time in two years, offering new foot traffic to a K Street block that has been facing bleak times.

"This is my first time," 12-year-old Charles Taylor said at the rink Thursday.

Taylor was one of the hundreds who were there.

"I have fallen a lot," Taylor said.

Taylor already has a big life lesson down.

"Always remember you have to just get back up and try again," Taylor said.

Around the rink, downtown businesses are battling their way back up, too.

Gerine Williams runs Devil May Care Ice Cream across the street from the newly opened ice rink.

"It's very difficult, but we're here," Williams said. "The ice rink should bring a lot more families down to K Street."

Her shop is surrounded by empty storefronts now. Three of the six spaces in her Hardin building are barren.

"Nobody wants empty businesses, and all the things that come with it," Williams said.

Downtown K Street has struggled to gain crowds like the one at the rink with consistency, even despite all the redevelopment done here pre-pandemic.

The return of the ice rink did bring new faces and new opportunities for sales.

EJ Amado brought his children to skate and then crossed the street for a scoop.

"Oh I spent $17 total between ice skating and ice cream so it was great," Amado said.

It all adds up for business owners seeking to help their bottom line.

"I think we need people, more people downtown," Williams said. "And that's going to take a lot of work from all of us."

There is skating around the issue. The downtown ice rink is back.

K Street's comeback will be more complicated.