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12/29/2014 Roseville's John Rose Oval has good skating for all skill levels - TwinCities.com and adult bandy, which is like field hockey on ice. The venue has hosted World Cup speed - skating meets and World and National Bandy Championships. "There is no one who has a facility like ours in the United States or uses it like we do," Tullberg said. "We want to provide a place for the dedicated athletes -- the speed skaters who hope to be in the Olympics -- all the way to people who just want a place for a fun skate on a Friday night or Saturday afternoon." Milwaukee has an indoor track, as does Salt Lake City, Utah, which hosted the 2002 Olympics. There's an outdoor oval at Lake Placid, N.Y., which hosted the 1980 Olympics. A fifth outdoor track in Montana has reverted to natural ice after its refrigeration failed. Many communities maintain big oval tracks on frozen lakes, but they melt during warm spells. With its 85 miles of pipes pumping chilled saltwater under the surface, the Roseville Oval can stay frozen into balmy temperatures. "We open in early November, before anyone else is thinking about outdoor ice," Tullberg said. "Three to four years ago on one of the first Saturdays we were open, it was 68 degrees and we were able to skate." It also stays open later than any neighborhood rink, usually through the first weekend in March, though in a warm month, the electricity bill can hit $20,000. From May to September the site reopens as a skateboard park and inline -skating track. The entire Roseville Skating Center, which also includes an indoor ice rink and banquet hall, has an annual budget of just more than $1 million. Fees cover all but the city's $50,000 annual contribution. The refrigeration proved its worth last week when temperatures rose. FAMILY TIME Joan Olson of St. Paul in her quest to find ice for two grandsons, who were visiting from Coon Rapids over winter break, had checked out four other rinks, including her neighborhood rink at Groveland and the refrigerated rink at Palace Recreation center. "They love to skate, and it's just good for them to get outside," said Olson, as she sat indoors and watched through a window as the two boys played pickup hockey. No one would mistake our group for hockey players. My son and one friend wobbled and chased each other down the ice and around the curve. Their other friend, a beginning skater, clung to the edge with one hand on the foam barrier, his feet slipping and sliding out from under him. I was impressed by his determination. "Lean forward and keep you knees bent," I said, giving him the only skating advice I'd ever found helpful. Meanwhile, my daughter sat in a wood kick sled with metal runners and waved as her friend http://www.twi nciti es.com/Features/ci_27202403/Rosevi I I es -John- Rose-Oval-has-good-skati ng -for -al I -ski I I -levels 2/3