Queenstown residents and visitors may be puzzled by the building-site activity surrounding the usual oasis of calm which is the village green, but contractors are setting the stage for the Winter Festival's first Wonderland Ice Rink.
The site over and either side of Horn Creek was prepared for scaffolding yesterday, before a 25-tonne crane loaded on the main structural support across the stream, festival director Simon Green said.
"They carry on building out to the terraces to finish with a 17m sq platform. On Monday morning, the rink itself comes in and hopefully by Tuesday we're starting to pour 20,000 litres from the KFC tap, a very slow pour for ice to build up over time.
"The glass barrier around the rink gets frozen into the ice itself."
Mr Green said patrons would be able to skate from Friday morning, the day the festival opens.
Young Queenstown figure-skater Chris Boyd and other skaters from the Queenstown Figure Skating Club, the Queenstown Ice Arena Skate School and Australian figure-skater Brooke Crawford, will feature in a Stars on Ice show on June 28. The Queenstown Ice Hockey Club will stage a display of ice hockey.
Ice-skating sessions will last for 45 minutes and begin on the hour from 10am to 9pm daily.
