Lily Murphy glided along the ice rink in Central Park on Sunday, enjoying a makeshift winter wonderland in a region better known for its heat and humidity.
She even scraped ice from her skate blade to make a snowball — a novelty for the 7-year-old from Windermere.
Call it winter without the commitment.
“It’s like a little slice of the North, and then you go outside and you don’t have to chip ice off your windshield,” said Lily’s mom, Kim Murphy, 42. “The kids are always yearning for snow and ice.”
The city conceived the idea during the recession in 2009 as a way to draw shoppers downtown. Since then, it has grown to include concession stands, flooring over the grass, public restrooms, lighting, blow-up snowmen and penguins and Friday movie nights, said Kyle Dudgeon, Winter Park’s economic development/Community Redevelopment Agency manager.
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