Editor’s Note: Lillian Karabaic has skated at the Lloyd Center Ice Rink since 2019.
The final ice show at Lloyd Center Ice Rink on May 31, 2026 felt a lot like the rink itself: a little chaotic, deeply sentimental and full of people who call it home.
Coach Alec Schmitt embraces one of his students as skaters gather on the ice at the end of the final show at the Lloyd Center Ice Rink, May 31, 2026. The ice arena was the first mall ice rink in the world, opened in 1960.
John Rudoff for OPB
Hundreds of spectators packed the railings surrounding the rink on May 31 for the final show, before the Portland landmark closes Aug. 8 after 66 years.
Families lined all three levels of the mall’s atrium, many bringing camp chairs to watch skaters perform beneath the glass roof.
The show featured everything from classic winter ice show numbers set to “The Nutcracker” and “Frozen” to a Michael Jackson medley and a “Shrek” routine. International competitors shared the ice with groups of young children wobbling through their first performances.
The Lloyd Center Ice Rink, the first mall ice rink in the world, opened in 1960, but on May 31, 2026, it hosted its final performance. Dozens of clubs and skaters of all ages participated, and hundreds of spectators lined three floors of the rink's perimeter.
John Rudoff for OPB
For many in attendance, the show highlighted what made Lloyd Center special: the community.
“I think the hardest part is not necessarily losing the space,” said coach Lydia Finch. “It’s the sense of community and the relationships we’ve built over the years here on the ice.”
Lydia Finch, the choreographer and coach at the Lloyd Center Ice Rink, May 31, 2026. The rink was the first mall ice rink in the world, opened in 1960. On May 31, it hosted a final performance, with dozens of clubs and skaters of all ages participating.
John Rudoff for OPB
The rink has served generations of Portland-area skaters, from beginners learning their first skills to athletes pursuing elite competition. That includes Oregon’s infamous and controversial Olympic figure skater, Tonya Harding.
But as Lloyd Center mall struggled over the past decades and slowly lost its anchor tenants, many skaters knew the rink’s future was uncertain.
“I feel like it’s something a lot of people have kind of anticipated happening with just the direction of the mall,” said Finch, who is searching for coaching opportunities at other rinks but said Lloyd Center offered something rare in the sport.
“It’s always had a sense of community — just everybody is welcome far and wide: coaches, skaters, all ages, all genders,” Finch said. “That’s really been the life source, is just welcoming everybody here.”
Alice Robinson is cheered on by her mom and the crowd at the final show at the Lloyd Center Ice Rink, May 31, 2026.
John Rudoff for OPB
Nine-year-old Alice Robinson said the friendships she has made at the rink are what she will miss most. “I would say the most special part would probably be the community,” Robinson said. “Everyone always is super nice, they’re welcoming.”
Members of “The Dream Girls,” (left to right) Shannon Sexton, Julie Strawitz, Lori Charlton and Marilu Campbell perform on May 31, 2026, at the final ice performance at the Lloyd Center Ice Rink.
John Rudoff for OPB
She compared the skating community to a school of fish.
“There’s no fish that is ever identical, but they’re always similar, meaning that we all skate, we are all welcoming, we all try to be nice to each other,” Robinson said. “We’re a community family, basically.”
For many skaters, that family is what they’ll miss most when the rink closes.
Stephanie Winningham performs at the final show at the Lloyd Center Ice Rink, May 31, 2026.
John Rudoff for OPB
Stephanie Winningham has driven from Vancouver, Washington, several days a week for the past two and a half years to skate at Lloyd Center, even though another rink is closer to her home.
“I think the community is just so much more special than other rinks,” Winningham said. “Everyone is so welcoming and friendly, and you see the same people all the time. The community is just so, so beautiful.”
When Lloyd Center closes, Winningham plans to skate closer to home — “a little bit begrudgingly,” she said. But she’s also helping lead an effort to build something new. She’s part of the Bridgetown Ice Skating Collective, a nonprofit formed by skaters and parents trying to find a replacement rink.
A young ice skater has makeup adjusted, May 31, 2026, at the final ice performance at the Lloyd Center Ice Rink.
John Rudoff for OPB
Not everyone is sure they’ll be able to keep skating, with longer travel times and higher costs for the remaining three rinks in the Portland suburbs — in Sherwood, Beaverton and Vancouver.
That’s a crossroads 2026 Olympic gold medalist Amber Glenn, who was in town last weekend for a Stars on Ice performance, knows well.
In 2013, the Texas mall rink where Glenn learned to skate closed, scattering the skating community she grew up with and making her training both further away and more expensive.
“I remember being so devastated when my mall rink shut down,” Glenn said. “It was such a hard switch for me because I trained there for eight years.”
The loss of the skating community was one of the hardest adjustments, she said.
Her advice for Lloyd Center skaters is to stay connected to the people who support them and remember why they started skating.
“I would definitely try to lean on your friends and family in any way you can because obviously if you’re going to commit to something as time-consuming and energy-consuming as figure skating, you really have to love it,” Glenn said.
“So just keep that love and remember why you started,” she said.
Tally Leonard, left, and her husband Jerry take to the ice on May 31, 2026. The Leonards were on the national competitive circuit, and Tally Leonard has been skating at the Lloyd Center rink since it opened in 1960.
John Rudoff for OPB
Among those preparing to say goodbye are Tally and Jerry Leonard, who have skated at Lloyd Center since the 1960s and opened the show last weekend with a skating performance to “L-O-V-E” by Nat King Cole.
“What a wonderful gift that the Lloyd Center Ice Arena gave to the city to have a show like this,” Jerry Leonard said, “this community of skaters — it’s just unsurpassed.”
Coach Dani Sabourin performs at the final show at the Lloyd Center Ice Rink, May 31, 2026.
John Rudoff for OPB
At the end of the show, Finch and the coaching staff surprised the audience with a group performance. When the music ended, dozens of children flooded onto the ice, embracing their tearful coaches.
All the skaters and coaches gather on the ice at the end of the final show at the Lloyd Center Ice Rink, May 31, 2026.
John Rudoff for OPB
Moments later, the traditional post-show dance party began — first to “Hokey Pokey” then to “Chicken Dance,” lightening the atmosphere as kids and adults in costumes started spinning around the ice.
For now, skaters are focused on making the most of their remaining weeks on the ice. After Aug. 8, the rink will be gone, but many hope the community built around it will endure long after the ice melts.
