A rendering of the Georgetown ice rink.

It’s barely fall, but let’s think down the road a little about one of the best things to do on a nice winter night: ice skate outside.

The Georgetown Metropolitan writes today that construction has begun on what will be the largest outdoor ice skating rink in the region, which will be located where a fountain currently stands in the Washington Harbour complex. The 11,800-square-foot rink will become the biggest in the region:

11,800 is more than two-thirds the size of a full NHL ice rink. The release points out that the rink will be larger than Rockefeller Center’s and the National Gallery of Art’s. It will also be larger than the two other outdoor rinks close by DC: Pentagon Row and Silver Spring. At 7,200 square feet, the Silver Spring rink was cited as the largest outdoor rink between DC and Baltimore; so the Georgetown rink may end up being the largest outdoor rink in the whole greater metropolitan area. (New York being New York has to have the last word though. Real New Yorkers know not to use Rockefeller Center but rather the gigantic Wollman Rink in Central Park, which is a whopping 30,000 square feet).

Construction should be done by November, and the rink is scheduled to remain open through March.