Big Lake Lions close to opening ice arena

BIG LAKE — The Big Lake Lions Club is just $44,000 away from opening its new hockey rink this winter.

“In the scope of things for a million-dollar project, that’s pretty amazing that we’re that close,” said Bill Haller, a club member and project coordinator for the hockey rink.

What’s more amazing is that the club didn’t take in any government money to build the rink and that as late as May, it was $200,000 short of its goal.

He said the club hopes to have that last $44,000 in place in time to open for business in October. The club is hosting a spaghetti dinner and silent auction this Saturday at the Big Lake Lions Club.

That last bit of money still outstanding, Haller said, is what they need to finish installing the facility’s sprinkler system. As of Friday, he said, the building was up and contractors were working on the interior.

Haller said that a lot of the material — from the boards that surround the rink to the lights above them to the asphalt in the parking lot — was donated. Fully $300,000 of the cost to build the facility came from the Mat-Su Health Foundation.

The rink doesn’t have bleachers. That’s really not the point.

“The whole thought process behind this was to make inexpensive ice time for the youth to learn and practice,” Haller said.

That drive to keep costs down is also what made the Lions decide that the rink should be unheated. That way, Haller said, ambient air temperature will keep the ice frozen. The rink won’t have to pay for refrigeration or heat.

The Zamboni will sit in a heated garage, though, and there are fans on the roof that will click on in the early morning to draw in as much of the cold night air as possible.

So, obviously, there will be some operating costs. But Haller said he thinks the club can meet its goal of providing ice time at $50 to $60 per hour. Which is much better than bigger Valley rinks, which charge something like $150 to $200.

“Teams, especially younger teams, they can practice four times as much in our facility for the same amount of money,” Haller said.

As the kids get older, he said, they will naturally gravitate toward leagues that compete in the larger facilities.

“Having inexpensive practice time is going to develop more and better players in the long run and get more kids active in the sport,” he said.

He also doesn’t think the facility will go unused in the summer. The hope is that they’ll be able to put down Astroturf for indoor soccer. There’s also been talk of baseball teams holding practice there or of staging community events like boat shows in the building.

“We hope to use it as a multiple-function facility,” he said.

Contact Andrew Wellner at andrew.wellner@frontiersman.com or 352-2270.