The Glade in Forest Park Opens November 30 with Ice Skating’s Return to Steinberg Rink
The Glade’s 22 acres include Steinberg Rink and many new amenities designed to invite activity in eastern Forest Park in all seasons.
ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI — Forest Park Forever has announced the opening dates and festivities to kick off the 2026-27 ice skating season in Forest Park, with historic Steinberg Rink reopening at the center of The Glade, a modern, 22-acre feature that will be alive with activity in all seasons.
Skating returns on Monday, Nov. 30, with a ceremonial ribbon cutting followed by the reopening of Steinberg Rink and the first skating sessions that evening. Public skating will be available each night that week leading up to The Glade Welcome Weekend, Friday, Dec. 4-Sunday, Dec. 6, which will be filled with activities and programming to kick off the winter season.
Visitors who want to be among the first to skate at The Glade that week can now buy tickets and reserve skate rentals and skate tutors in advance at forestparkforever.org/glade-tickets.
The Glade Project
The largest single project in the nonprofit Forest Park Forever’s 40-year history, The Glade represents a new vision for eastern Forest Park. From its conception, it was designed with constant community input and a vision for a place of all-season fun that is equitably, environmentally, and economically sustainable and inspires a variety of structured and unstructured activities that are welcoming to all.
The Glade meets that vision with new features across the site that will bring joy to visitors in all seasons, while solving all the major needs of the nearly 70-year-old rink and building. The project followed an ambitious 21-month construction schedule in order to meet the goal of only having Steinberg Rink closed for one season.
“The opening of The Glade and the return of ice skating at Steinberg Rink is a significant moment in the 150-year history of Forest Park,” said Greg Hayes, Director of the City of St. Louis Department of Parks, Recreation, and Forestry. “We are certainly excited to see the community enjoy this space and build more memories and new traditions at this vastly improved and very popular park amenity.”
“We are honored that our partners with the City of St. Louis entrusted our nonprofit to carry out this vision and manage its operations, and we are grateful to the many donors who believed in this vision,” said Lesley Hoffarth, President and Executive Director. “After years of planning and nearly two years of construction, we can’t wait to unveil this world-class addition to Forest Park and invite the community to enjoy it in every season.”
Features of The Glade
The new roof terrace will include a restaurant (opening spring 2027) and views of the skating rink, cascade and fire pits below.
The opening of The Glade starts with a seasonal tradition many in St. Louis know and love: winter ice skating under the open sky in Forest Park. The original 27,000 square-foot skating rink footprint remains, though the rink and icemaking infrastructure have all been replaced with modern systems.
The rink is surrounded on all four sides by beautiful new features that invite activity, including:
a shade structure with reservable fire pit bays and a community lawn to the west;
a dramatic fountain cascade and splashpad (opening in late spring 2027) to the north;
a new maple tree grove and connections to Jefferson Lake to the south;
the reimagined building with ground-floor café and bar, roof terrace and restaurant (opening in spring 2027) and community living room (opening in spring 2027) to the east;
The Glade is much more accessible and better connected to the Park and its eastern border than ever:
An ADA-compliant path from Kingshighway brings visitors to the rooftop through beautiful landscaping and greenery that befits Forest Park.
New access points along Faulkner Drive bring visitors across stone pedestrian bridges that span the Taylor Kindle River, which was extended in 2025.
An elevator inside the building provides access to the new second floor and rooftop, which was previously reachable only by stairs in the original 1957 design.
The section of the dual recreational path, a nearly six-mile circuit of Forest Park that included a detour to Faulkner during the last 12 months of construction, will reopen when the rink opens. Its new route brings path users through the wooded area at The Glade’s western edge, with picturesque views of the river, lawn, Steinberg and St. Louis Central West End skyline.
Flexibility and Sustainability in All Seasons
Throughout The Glade are features that invite St. Louisans to gather in all seasons. Outside of the winter ice season, the rink is made to bring roller skating back to Steinberg, while its north end can be converted for other community activities like markets, festivals, wellness classes and cultural events.
The summer fountains and splashpad can be converted in winter to host a performance stage or individual fire pits for visitors watching the rink activity.
The community lawn to the west of the rink will be a place for picnics and lawn games and to host movie and music nights in the warm seasons; in winter, it will be lit with holiday lights.
The Glade was also designed with sustainability in mind and a goal of harmonizing with the natural surroundings of Forest Park:
The old Steinberg parking lot now includes 92 geothermal wells, drilled hundreds of feet underground, to trap heat and conserve energy for ice maintenance plus cooling in summer and heating in winter.
The windows that wrap the ground floor and second story of The Glade are triple-pane and insulated, conserving energy and heat transfer in all seasons.
Over 100,000 plantings, including 183 trees, are being added to Forest Park as part of The Glade.
The north, south and western access points bring visitors to Klein Prairie, Jefferson Lake and the Taylor Kindle River, respectively.
Opening Night and The Glade Welcome Weekend
Monday, November 30: The Glade Opens
4 – 4:45 p.m. Ceremonial ribbon cutting with community leaders and donors who made this transformation possible
5 p.m. Pavilion opens to public
6 p.m. First public skating session begins
Friday-Sunday, December 4-6: The Glade Welcome Weekend
From Friday night through Sunday, we are creating a schedule of celebration with activities for all ages, music, learn-to-skate sessions, Santa and Mrs. Claus, mascots, new food and beverage offerings and more.
Friday, Dec. 4: Public Skating from 2-9 p.m. (ticket purchase required to skate)
6:30 a.m. GO! St. Louis Run Club Meetup
5-8 p.m. Santa and characters
Music: 5:30-7 p.m., Voodoo Players; 7-9:30 p.m., DJ
Saturday, Dec. 5: Public Skating from 10 a.m. – 11 p.m. (ticket purchase required to skate)
10-11 a.m. Learn to Play
11 a.m. – 2 p.m. Santa and characters; Mrs. Claus at Storytime
1-2 p.m. Local sports and schools mascots
Music: DJ, 1-4 p.m.; The Mighty Pines, 5-6:30 p.m.; DJ from 6-9:30 p.m.
Sunday, Dec. 6: Public Skating from 10 a.m. – 8 p.m. (ticket purchase required to skate)
10-11 a.m. Learn to Skate
11 a.m. – 2 p.m. Santa and characters; Mrs. Claus at Storytime
Music: 1-4 p.m., Lamar Harris
How The Glade Came to Be
The Glade is privately funded by donors to the Imagine the Glade campaign. The design meets a vision in the Forest Park Master Plan to reimagine the Steinberg area for all-season activity.
The design itself honors the Mid-Century Modern rectilinear style of Frederick Dunn’s 1957 design while creating accessible, inviting entrances from all directions.
This project was led by the City of St. Louis and Forest Park Forever, with management support from H3 Studio Inc. The world-class design team includes design architect Snow Kreilich Architects, which was part of the design team behind St. Louis CITY SC’s Energizer Park; landscape architect Hoerr Schaudt; and St. Louis-based Christner Architects, the architect of record. BSI Constructors is the construction manager. Vector Communications facilitated community engagement and input.
About Forest Park Forever
Founded in 1986, Forest Park Forever is a private nonprofit conservancy that partners with the City of St. Louis to restore, maintain and sustain Forest Park as one of America's great urban public parks for a diverse community of visitors to enjoy, now and forever.
Forest Park Forever has led major fundraising efforts to restore and transform many landmark destinations in Forest Park, including Emerson Grand Basin, The Boathouse, World’s Fair Pavilion and the Jewel Box, while creating new spaces that draw more of the community to Forest Park like the Anne O'C. Albrecht Nature Playscape, the Nicholas J. Booker Basketball Courts and The Glade, a 22-acre site that includes the restored Steinberg Rink. In 2024, Forest Park Forever and the City of St. Louis renewed their innovative public-private partnership for another 20 to 30 years, continuing a shared commitment to sustain Forest Park for all to enjoy.
Today, Forest Park Forever maintains Forest Park with the City of St. Louis; raises funds for and helps manage capital restoration projects called for in the Forest Park Master Plan; delivers experiential educational opportunities to teachers, students and adults; and provides information and guides for the Park’s 15.5 million annual visitors. Not part of the Zoo-Museum Tax District, Forest Park Forever is supported by private donations from throughout the community, including over 7,000 members, 2,000 volunteers and many leading community and corporate partners.
Connect with us at facebook.com/forestparkforever, instagram.com/forestparkforever and https://www.linkedin.com/company/forest-park-forever. Follow progress and events at The Glade at www.instagram.com/forestparkglade/.
About Forest Park
Forest Park in St. Louis, Missouri, is considered one of the nation’s greatest urban public parks. The Park’s 1,300 acres feature beautiful landscapes sprinkled with forests, ecosystems, nature reserves, lakes and streams, as well as five of the region’s major cultural institutions and endless opportunities for recreation. Forest Park attracts 15.5 million visitors each year and has been named the best city park in the United States multiple times by multiple publications.