HOLLAND, Mich. — Work on Holland's ice rink has begun. City staff and neighbors celebrated the work with a ground breaking Tuesday afternoon.
Those overseeing the project say they're not taking the credit on this one, thanking a retired school teacher for his $1 million donation.
"Today, we're breaking ground on a project that will create wonderful Frank stories for generations to come," said Mayor Nathan Bocks about his friend of 30 years, Frank Kraai.
"If we could get the ice rink project going before he passed away, he'd donate $1 million," Bocks said in front of the crowd at Tuesday's groundbreaking.
And that's exactly what he did. Frank Kraai from Holland is helping spread the same joy he experienced as a kid ice skating.
"Those are some of the happiest moments of my life," said Kraai. "And I thought, why can't more people have those moments today. Imagine the children that are going to skate here and have similar kinds of experiences. That's what it's like, that's what I think about it, and that's what it's going to be."
Kraai said that he started ice skating in Holland as a kid on a pond and wanted kids across Holland to have a safe spot to skate at, too.
"We had to walk across the country to get to the pond, and we skated. We did quite a bit of skating," he said.
For the city, this $8 million project is only part of a larger project to develop Holland's waterfront.
Voters passed a land deal last May that cleared the way for a hotel and cruise shop dock to come to Holland. Mayor Bocks says all of these projects tie into one big effort to bring more tourism to the city all year.
"We think that this ice skating park is going to be a real attraction not only for the people of Holland to enjoy, but for people around the West Michigan region to enjoy. It's going to make Holland, Michigan a four seasons destination. And this project is just part of our larger waterfront Holland project. We consider Waterfront Holland to span from the windmill all the way to Kollen Park with a ribbon that connects all of these great venues and activities together," he said.
The city hopes to have the project completed by 2025.
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