Among the mob of people swarming the Tysons plaza this holiday season, a concrete slab remains where the Tysons ice skating rink used to be. Tysons Events and Communication manager, Becca Wilcox, made the announcement to close the Tysons skating rink in October.

Highlanders miss the skating rink, which served as a fun place for McLean residents to hangout during the winter.

“It’s really sad because it was a really nice place to go during winter break,” junior Liza Alivva said. “[This decision] took out a pretty big fun part in our lives.”

The rink’s closure prompted many inconveniences as well.

“My younger sister’s a figure skater, she usually skates in Reston, but if it’s winter break she goes ice skating [at Tysons],” Alivva said. “I feel like it’s going to impact her.”

This decision left many students shocked, as they were unaware the rink had never opened this year.

“I’m surprised, I didn’t expect it to close because I didn’t even know that it was [doing badly],” Alivva said.

This event marks a step back in the revamping of Tysons Corner, which entails making Tysons a thriving, social city.

In a statement made by Wilcox, she blamed problems with managing varying weather conditions for the rinks shutdown. To students the rink did not always appear successful

“Sometimes the rink would be really empty and melting so I can see why there could have been a problem,” Alivva said.

Despite the rink’s closing the memories it created will never disappear.

“I taught my boyfriend how to skate there,” Alivva said. “[That’s] my best memory [there].”