They have been doing ice rinks here for years, using both, with and w/o a liner. The rink is in use from mid Nov to as late at late March. This year I am forgoing the liner and putting down several thin coats of water to get the frost deep and build the rink from there. If the ground gets warm, it causes the liner to bubble up and the skaters cut it with their skates. So the secret, either way is to make sure that when on top of grass get the frost deep to keep the ice from melting from the bottom up. We have had no long term death of grass so far, but I guess I just jinks myself there
