Marietta Ice Center

So much has changed in the past year under new ownership, the mold is gone, it stays cold, a food shop is about to open, and they have good skate programs. I remember the old management and don’t hold it against the new.

I was there for a hockey tourney on Sat and Sunday. I thought the kids at the counter were nice. The breakdown must me the manager. When you have games all day and hundreds of parents and kids in and out from 9 am — 9pm wouldn’t you think you would be properly staffed? Would you think, hey maybe we should order drinks and food for the small snack shop? They literally had nothing in the display case. A spot for pizza and no pizza. Pretzels — no. Many snacks — hardly. A good supply of drinks — a few. Most of the time it was not even staffed. During Sat afternoon game it was warm in the rink and puddles all over the ice. The owner did have place in front reserved for his Ferrari though.

Understandably, there aren’t many ice rinks around Atlanta but this is one of the better ones. They are great summer camps for hockey players and a well known team called the Knights. I’m partial to that mascot since the original Atlanta Knights were our pro team many years ago. They have a snack bar which I have yet to see open. The people here are very nice and the ice isn’t bad. Prices are standard.

To date, I’ve skated at four different ice skating rinks in the Atlanta area. They are, in no particular order:
— Centennial Olympic Park
— Park Tavern (Piedmont Park)
— IceForum Duluth
— Marietta Ice Center
I went ice skating at the Marietta Ice Center on Saturday. I had a good time, though the public skate rink was small and the facility was old and a bit dingy. There was a little mold growing on the ceiling.
The Marietta Ice Center is located in the heart of East Cobb. It’s in a non-​descript brick building behind a shopping center at the corner of Lower Roswell and Johnson Ferry. The facility is used for a variety of ice rink purposes such as hockey, figure skating, and curling.
Like my other ice skating rink reviews, I’m writing my review for the Marietta Ice Center from a public skate perspective. The Marietta Ice Center charges $ 8 admission for public skating and $ 3 for ice skate rentals. Visit their web site (
) to view their public skating schedule.
I redeemed a $ 12 LivingSocial voucher which was good for admission and skate rentals for two people + two drinks and one popcorn. The soft drinks were canned and at room temperature. The popcorn machine was down for inspection, so we didn’t get any popcorn. I didn’t mind though. I just wanted to skate.
If you want the more «romantic» or «movie-​like» ice skating experience, then you should go to one of the outdoor ice skating venues at Centennial Olympic Park or Piedmont Park. However, the park rinks are only open during the winter season. They’re also more likely to have beginners and the ice isn’t as nice.
If you want a more «pure» ice skating experience, go to one of the indoor facilities such as the IceForum or Marietta Ice Center. Relatively speaking, the ice is smoother and better maintained and the skaters aren’t all noobs. That’s not to say these places aren’t good for novices either. You just won’t run into as many. Since the Marietta Ice Center is comparable to the Duluth IceForum, I’ll be making some comparisons between the two.
The Marietta Ice Center is smaller. It appeared to have only two rinks.
On Saturday, public skating was available from 2:10pm to 8:10pm. There were youth hockey league games being played on the main rink, so public skating was relegated to the smaller ice rink in the back. This rink is tinier than the public skate rink at the Duluth IceForum, however the Marietta Ice Center seems to have more times available for public skating.
Around 4:00pm, the public skate rink was packed. There were a lot of families and kids of all ages. By about 6:00pm, most of the kids were gone and the rink was significantly emptied out. This rink seems to have way more kids than the Duluth IceForum.
Unlike the other rinks I’ve skated at, the Marietta Ice Center did not appear to have any staff monitoring the public skate. Kids were making and throwing snowballs at each other, tossing hockey pucks onto the ice, etc. I think they need to have someone monitoring the ice rink at all times for safety purposes.
The quality of the rental ice skates was about what I expected: average to not very good. They were worn out, stiff, and uncomfortable, but that has generally been my experience at just about every ice skating rink. Marietta Ice Center’s rental skates seem to be the oldest.
The ambient temperature inside was cold. It seemed significantly colder than the ambient temperature inside the Duluth IceForum. I recommend bundling up and bringing a hat and/​or gloves. I estimate it was in the upper 30s/​low 40s Fahrenheit. Also, bring an extra pair of socks to use with your skates. No lockers are available, so you’ll be leaving your shoes at the benches.
The staff was friendly.
Overall, the Marietta Ice Center is a serviceable ice skating facility, but could definitely use an upgrade.