Rocket Ice: The Coolest Place in Bolingbrook

In the old days, people would flock to air-conditioned movie theaters to escape the heat during the summer months when the air is so hot that even swimming pools weren't a sure bet for a cool off.

Bolingbrook, though, can do one better.

, at 180 Canterbury Lane, was the brainchild of owner Ed Schroeder, a lifelong skating and hockey enthusiast and a man whose philosophy for the place seems to go not far beyond, “we like to have fun here.”

Schroeder, a Grayslake resident and Park Ridge native who learned to skate as a kid and admitted to having taken his future wife to an ice rink on their first date, is also the owner of a construction company that built several rinks for the Chicago Park District back in the 1990s.

That work fueled a desire for a facility of his own. And in 2000 Rocket Ice opened for business.

“Our objective with Rocket is to be the best ice rink in the Chicago area,” he said.

And by best, Schroeder cites four main areas: best public skating; best hockey; best learn-to-skate program; and best birthday parties.

Rocket Ice is home to the Sabres Hockey Association, which manages organized teams on home and travel levels as well as world-class figure skating coaches and a dedicated staff. 

From the hockey moms to the figure-skating front desk clerk to the ice-gripped operations manager, everyone at Rocket lives and breathes skating.

The Bolingbrook facility features two rinks, ingeniously dubbed "Lake Tahoe” and “Lake Placid.” A north woods theme is pervasive everywhere that hockey is not—Blackhawks stained glass hangs alongside log cabin walls—and the main lobby holds a massive stone fireplace set inside wood-paneled walls reminiscent of a ski lodge.

A wrought iron chandelier over the front door greets guests with intricate carvings of hockey pucks and sticks.

But the best thing about Rocket Ice, at least at this time of year, is the climate.

Dawn DeSart of Naperville said she brings her daughter, 8-year old Kathryn, to skate.

One of the perks—aside from the joy figure skating brings her youngster—is the temperatures. 

“We don’t have air conditioning in our house yet,” DeSart said. “What better place to cool off?”

The temperature on the ice is a refreshing 60 degrees. Last Friday, Schroeder and staff even cranked up the snow machine for a special “Blizzard in July.”

“We want this place to be like the friendly place up north,” Schroeder said. “Outside the window, it’s 100 degrees.”

The next Blizzard Skate is set for Aug. 20, at 12:40 p.m.

The rink is open for public skating Monday through Friday from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., and Saturday from 12:40 p.m. 2:30 p.m. and 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. for “Cosmic Skate.” 

Other amenities include a synthetic ice arena for instruction, a ballet room, a party room, a concession stand, skate rentals and heated viewing areas with wireless Internet access for parents and siblings so they don’t have to stand around bored and shivering while waiting for class or practice to end.