Hockey teams scrambling after Gurnee rink announces closing
Warren Township High School's hockey teams and others are scrambling for other venues at which to skate and play due to the planned closing next month of a Gurnee ice rink.
Citing repair costs deemed too steep, Texas-based Nickels and Dimes Inc. has announced the ice arena portion of what's now called Tilt Studio at RinkSide is set to close April 15. The business, located at Gurnee Mills shopping center, had been RinkSide Sports and Family Entertainment Center.
In its announcement, Nickels and Dimes said catastrophic failures recently occurred in nearly all operating systems for the rink.
An arcade, laser tag and black-light miniature golf course that are part of the ice rink's space "absolutely" will remain, Nickels and Dimes executive Chris Gonzalez said Tuesday. Plans to build something in place of the ice rink cannot be immediately disclosed, he said.
Bryan LaManna, assistant men's varsity hockey coach for Gurnee-based Warren District 121, said news of the ice rink's closure came as a surprise. The facility has been Warren's home rink since it opened in 1999.
Part of RinkSide's charm has been glass allowing Gurnee Mills patrons a view of the rink as they pass by in a corridor.
"The kids loved it," LaManna said.
"We started developing a really good student turnout."
Warren is hunting for a new hockey home for the 2017-18 season.
LaManna said rinks from Pleasant Prairie, Wisconsin, to Highland Park have been contacted about ice time to accommodate Warren's three teams.
Gurnee resident Kathy Stanislawski also is lamenting the demise of the Gurnee Mills rink.
Her 11-year-old son has been playing for the house league RinkSide Maulers.
"We really do not want to go to any other rink," Stanislawski said.
"There would be such competition to register early enough and (I am) afraid they would cut kids because there are more hockey players than there would be teams available."
Gurnee Mayor Kristina Kovarik said Tuesday the rink's closing presents an economic development opportunity.
Officials plan to seek individual investors or companies interested in building a new ice arena in Gurnee, which has several potential sites for such as project, she said.
"Why would you not want to host a (hockey) tournament in Gurnee?" Kovarik said.
If the facility closes as planned, Lake County would lose its second ice rink since late 2016.
Barrington Ice Arena in Lake Barrington ended its 42-year run last September.
With 31,558 adult and youth players registered with USA Hockey in 2015-16, Illinois ranks fifth in the country behind Minnesota, Michigan, Massachusetts and New York, according to the organization's most recently available annual report shows.
There were 542,583 registered players in the United States, up 1.7 percent from 2014-15.