Roseville’s Guidant John Rose Minnesota Oval among nominees for USA Today’s Best Skating Rink contest

A metro area ice rink has a chance to ice the competition in a nation-wide contest.

USA Today’s Best Ice Skating Rink contest includes Roseville’s Guidant John Rose Minnesota Oval, which the city says is currently tentatively scheduled to open for the season this Friday.

The rink is competing with 20 others, including New York City’s Rockefeller Center Rink; James C. Sheffield Speed Skating Oval in Lake Placid, New York; Las Vegas, Nevada’s rink at the Cosmopolitan, the Frankenmuth, Michigan Ice Rink; Boston, Massachusetts’ Common Frog Pond; and Curry Village Ice Rink at Yosemite National Park.

The contest description says each rink was nominated by an expert panel for “providing superior ice skating experiences.”

“We’re thrilled to be nominated for the best ice skating rink in the U.S.,” said Matthew Johnson, Roseville’s Parks and Recreation Director. “At 110,000 square feet of refrigerated ice, the Guidant John Rose MN OVAL is truly one of the most unique skating experiences in the world. Whether for Olympic-sized 400-meter speedskating, bandy (played on a soccer-pitch sized ice rink), hockey (four recreational rinks), or leisure skating, the John Rose MN OVAL offers a truly special skating experience for skater of all interest and ability level.”

According to the facility’s website, the Oval is the largest outdoor refrigerated skating facility in North America and has a grandstand that allows 300 people to be seated at once. It transitions to one of the outdoor skate parks in the Midwest during the summer months.

CLICK HERE to cast your vote.

You can vote for your favorite once per day until 11 a.m. CT on Monday, Dec. 4. The 10 winning rinks will be announced on Friday, Dec. 15. You can see the current leaderboard by CLICKING HERE.

Roseville’s rink isn’t the only Minnesota location among USA Today’s contests – Duluth’s Glensheen Mansion and Bentleyville are also competing for top spots.

Glensheen Mansion is among the nominees for favorite holiday historic home tour.

The site is competing with the Biltmore in Asheville, North Carolina; George Washington’s Mount Vernon in Mount Vernon, Virginia; Graceland in Memphis Tennessee; Hearst Castle in San Simeon, California; the Mark Twain House and Museum in Hartford, Connecticut; Lyndhurst Mansion in Tarrytown, New York; Vanderbilt Mansion in Hyde Park, New York and Thomas Jefferson’s Monticello in Charlottesville, Virginia. CLICK HERE to vote in that contest.

Meanwhile, Bentleyville’s Tour of Lights is in the Best Public Holiday Lights Display contest.

Bentleyville is competing against sites such as Miracle on South 13th Street in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Lights on Colony in Madison, Wisconsin; Holiday Lights on the River Walk in San Antonio, Texas; the Chickasha Festival of Light in Chickasha, Oklahoma; and Christmas on Temple Square in Salt Lake City, Utah. CLICK HERE to vote in the light display contest.