“Sleepy Lagoon” is one of those big band musical gems of the 1940s, a Harry James Orchestra classic that climbed to the top of the Hit Parade in 1941. Just over a year before, a different kind of lagoon — one for skating, not sleeping — opened officially to the SUI community. Wintertime ice skating inside the west bank of the Iowa River, complete with its New Deal–era Shelter House just a few paces northeast of the Theatre Building, began during the last week of December 1939.

To be sure, countless renegade students and “townies” took their chances on the icy river for decades before the official christening of the skating venue. Many images in the Hawkeye, the University of Iowa’s yearbook from 1892 to 1992, depict wintertime outdoor activities, including unsanctioned skating. The 1939 opening, however, was the first time the university designated areas on and near the river for the popular pastime, complete with fencing, floodlights, and loudspeakers for music.

Charles Kennett, who on warm, sunny days was the university’s golf instructor, was appointed the skating lagoon’s first manager. One could buy a season ticket for $1; otherwise single admission was 10 cents. Its capital budget that first season was $95, including $12 set aside for a half-dozen snow shovels, according to a memorandum dated Dec. 2, 1939, in the University Archives’ Building Vertical File folder, “Skating Lagoon.”

“Bright skating outfits and white skate shoes seem to be the style of the season,” wrote a Daily Iowan reporter on Dec. 28, 1939. “The new skating lagoon surely will be one of the recreational centers of the campus when university classes again meet next week. A complete dining service will be maintained in the shelter house for the convenience of skaters. Two large fireplaces, one outside and one inside, will be used to warm skaters in cold weather.”

As Old Gold writes this (Nov. 8), eastern Iowa’s first winter storm watch of the season has been issued, with perhaps an inch of snow expected in Iowa City within 24 hours. These days, weather permitting, Iowa City’s City Park hosts outdoor ice skating, at a site about a half-mile north of the original SUI skating spot. Old Gold wishes everyone smooth sailing on the ice this season or, in his case, happy landings!

—David McCartney, University Archivist

Ice skating on the Iowa River, 1920s [F.W. Kent Collection of Photographs (RG 30.01.01), Scenes University of Iowa Campus series, “River Scenes” folder, University Archives, Department of Special Collections, University of Iowa Libraries]

With the Theatre Building in the background, view of the skating lagoon looking southwest, with the shelter house to the left, 1940s [F.W. Kent Collection of Photographs (RG 30.01.01), Scenes University of Iowa Campus series, “West Campus Scenes” folder, University Archives, Department of Special Collections, University of Iowa Libraries]

Daily Iowan newspaper advertisement promoting opening of the new skating lagoon, December 1939 [Campus Buildings and Grounds Vertical File (RG 01.15.02), “Skating Lagoon” folder, University Archives, Department of Special Collections, University of Iowa Libraries]