The Ice Ribbon at Riverfront Park in Downtown Spokane opened up in early December, and has made records on the recent attendance with approx. 41,000, breaking the Ice Palace attendance of 29,877 in 2016. While all of the record-breaking attendance appears good to the City of Spokane, they have now experienced a first for the city: A death on city-owned ice. On Jan. 19, a skater fell on the ice and hit their head. They succumbed to their injuries on Jan. 21.
The city is now reviewing safety precautions to prevent an event like this. To start off, the Ice Ribbon has since made helmets available for free to any skaters wanting to wear one.