BALTIMORE — The Mimi DiPietro Skating Center in Patterson Park is slated to close permanently due to structural concerns with the "wall that houses the rink's ammonia refrigeration system," the Baltimore City Mayor's Office and Dept. of Recreation and Parks said in a recently-circulated document.

The skating center is closed right now. Rec and Parks said if repairs, taking place right now, succeed, the facility could remain open just for this season, adding the earliest possible reopening would be late December or early January. It would be the final season for an ice rink that has served Patterson Park for 39 years.

The document estimates a new, structurally-sound rink would cost between $5 million and $10 million. Given the city's larger demands, Recreation and Parks said it "has reach

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