Mayor's Corner: Grand Re-Opening Of Winterhurst

On November 18th, the City of Lakewood and our operating partner, Lakewood Community Ice (LCI), will be hosting a grand re-opening of the Winterhurst Ice Rink. This event marks the culmination of our initial efforts to reposition this important city facility to maximize its benefit to our Lakewood community. The City’s overarching goal continues to be to make Winterhurst  an affordable, inviting, community-focused ice rink that first and foremost serves the needs and priorities of the people of Lakewood. We believe recent updates have moved us toward achieving that goal.

Some of the recent changes in operations and investment to Winterhurst have included both operational changes and capital investments. On the operations side, we are excited that public skating and educational opportunities are now back and seen as a primary function of the facility. This includes programming for Open/Public Skate, Parent-Tot Hockey, Adult Drop-In Hockey, and Adult Skate. We also have excellent new concessions (Zamboni’s of Lakewood) and pro shop (Perani’s Hockey World) operators in place to serve the needs of our users.

Initial physical improvements include a refresh (e.g., new paint) for the lobby, concessions, and lounge areas, as well as a 100% replacement of the skates (both hockey and figure) available for the public rental use. We also have ensured the designation of a girls' locker room and made necessary repairs to several areas of the facility. And I’m proud to report that the traditional signage, name, and logo for the “Winterhurst Ice Arena” are back in use and prominently displayed inside and out.

Moving forward, the City and LCI will continue with additional elements of the long-term capital plan to ensure the long-term health and maximum community benefit of the facility. In the near term, we expect to see new furniture for all facility spaces, new brighter and more efficient LED lighting, and additional restroom upgrades. Longer term, our plan includes items such as replacing the ice plant and a much-needed locker room renovation over the next 12 to 24 months.

I want to thank LCI for the new energy they have brough to managing Winterhurst and also thank our community advisory committee who helped us build the vision for the facility moving forward. It’s clear that their efforts are having a major impact for Winterhurst and for its users.

For our grand re-opening on the 18th, we have an exciting lineup of events that includes a ribbon cutting with our key community stakeholders at 6:30pm and a ceremonial puck-dropping at 7:00pm, two high school hockey games (first with the St. Edward Eagles at 4:30pm followed by the Lakewood Rangers at 7pm), and a public open skate at 7pm. I hope to see many of you there as we celebrate a bright future for this beloved community asset.