Popular ice skating facility in South Bend looks to expand
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One of the South Bend area’s largest regional draws is making plans to expand.
South Bend Youth Hockey Inc. is raising money to support an addition to the Ice Box, a two-rink ice skating facility on the city’s southwest side.
The Ice Box currently hosts events for dozens of hockey teams and figure skaters across town and is a major destination for travel hockey, bringing 26,000 visitors to an estimated 22,000 hotel and motel rooms last year.
“Our customers use the second largest number of rooms in the county, save for Notre Dame football,” South Bend Youth Hockey President Dennis Jordan told city officials last week.
Plans call for an additional ice rink, new locker rooms and an expanded lobby allowing the Ice Box to organize up to 26 tournaments a year.
The facility hosted 22 tournaments last year, and the project comes at a time when outdoor rinks have closed in recent years at Howard Park and nearby Mishawaka’s Merrifield Park. The two closed rinks were replaced with new ice ribbons – one at the redeveloped Howard Park and another at the new Ironworks Plaza in downtown Mishawaka.
The Ice Box has offered hockey dating back to 1974. The one-rink facility added a second sheet of ice in 1999. Notre Dame’s Compton Family Ice Arena came online in 2011 and offers two additional rinks for community use and area tournaments when not in use by the Irish.
South Bend’s Redevelopment Commission agreed last week to put $2 million toward the project. Funds are still being raised, but for its part, Ice Box leaders anticipate investing at least $9 million in non-city money for the expansion. St. Joseph County’s Hotel Motel Tax Board also approved a $2 million grant earlier this year.
Jordan says he anticipates the expansion will allow for an estimated additional 8,000 hotel stays annually.
“They’re not only renting hotel rooms, they’re out in the community spending money,” Jordan said. “It’s not so much that we’re generating tons of revenue for the city, but we’re generating a lot of revenue for businesses in the city.”
The Ice Box is also working to grow its outreach to minority and underserved youth who may not traditionally be able to afford playing hockey. South Bend Youth Hockey extends several opportunities for kids under 14 to skate on scholarship and offers a summer camp. However, demand for ice in the winter is limited.
With the expansion, Jordan says the organization hopes to explore partnerships with the local Boys & Girls Clubs. There’s also been talk of attracting a new junior team to the area, serving athletes 16 to 21 years old with an eye for Division II or Division III hockey.
“It really comes down to the availability of ice,” Jordan said.
He told Inside INdiana Business last week that South Bend Youth Hockey would like to begin work in the spring in hopes of completing the third rink by summer 2025.