Hockey group chips in for new Palmer ice rink

PALMER -- A sizable dent was put in the city of Palmer's $2.5 million bill for the construction of a new ice arena, in the form of a $136,000 check from the Palmer Hockey Association.

Three Palmer hockey players, decked out in their game jerseys, handed the oversized check across the table to Palmer Mayor Jim Cooper, to the sound of applause from all attendees of the Palmer City Council's regular meeting Tuesday night.

"This will go a long way toward ensuring that we get ice laid down by October," Cooper said. He added that the hockey rink would prove to be a multi-use facility, including not only ice, but several outdoor facilities, benefiting the entire city.

The money granted by the Palmer Hockey Association was gained through the sale of a section of land donated to the association by Dominic Donatello, a longtime supporter of youth hockey in the Valley. The three representatives of the association attending the city council meeting said they hoped the city would consider naming the new complex after Donatello.

This might not be construed as an unreasonable request, considering the fact that the Palmer Hockey Association is far and away the largest individual donor of funds to support the rink, said Mike Logan, a member of the association. The majority of the funding, however, will come from the city's bond sales, public funds and a grant from the Mat-Su Borough, according to a May 4 budget reconciliation from the city.

"This was a perfect opportunity to do something with that land," Logan said. "Its sole purpose was to support the new rink."

Logan, early on, said he had hoped the land might be used to house the rink itself, but Palmer chose a site near Palmer Junior Middle School already owned by the city for their future rink, so the association found a new way to make the land work for them.

"We're excited by the potential for improving the lives of our community's youth that this rink will represent," said Logan, who added that he is distressed by the fact that Palmer's hockey-playing youth must drive all the way across the Valley to access an ice rink. He said he hopes the new ice within the city will allow hockey interest in the area to grow.

The Palmer Hockey Association is a nonprofit organization that boosts Palmer High School's hockey team. It works to improve the hockey experience throughout the city. However, the association also performs community service and public improvement projects across the city and the state.

"We're more than just hockey," Logan said. "We do a lot of good things."

According to Rick Koch, Public Works Superintendent for Palmer, work is proceeding nicely on the new rink. The groundwork has just recently been finished, and this week the first vertical supports should be going in. Koch said Friday that everything is going according to plan and that high school hockey players should be able to practice on the ice by October 18.

The council is planning for future developments in the construction as well. Late last year, the city acquired a used ice refrigeration system, scoreboard, skate sharpener, Zamboni and other equipment from the defunct Bonnie Cusack Memorial Ice Arena in Anchorage, and is now contracting out to have the equipment placed into the facility.

Contact Daniel Spoth at daniel.spoth@frontiersman.com.