$2M fundraiser launched for Sussex ice skating arena project

After plans faltered for a Dover ice rink project, parents of hockey players and figure skaters have launched a $2 million fundraising campaign to build a facility near Georgetown.  

Organizers of the Miracle Ice Arena project announced they had purchased the equipment from the state fairgrounds ice arena that recently closed and are forming a tax-exempt nonprofit to begin fundraising.

“The Miracle Ice Arena (501(c)(3) nonprofit applicant has launched a fundraising campaign to bring ice sports back to southern Delaware,” according to a news release. “With the closing of the Centre Ice facility in Harrington, local families, athletes and community leaders are rallying together to ensure the next generation can skate, play and compete close to home.”

Among the organizers is Christopher Steele of Milton, whose 10-year-old son, Preston, has been playing hockey for six years.

The day Steele sent out the fundraising news release, he and his son made the three-hour round trip to Patriot Ice Center in Newark for practice. His son had to get up early for school the next day. The day after that, they headed north again to the ice arena. 

“This year, we’re all committed to the grind of driving north, but this is not sustainable,” Steele said. “We need hope.”

That would come in the form of a groundbreaking for a new arena.

The proposed facility would include a learn-to-play program; in-house, travel, adult and school hockey leagues; figure skating programs; community events; and public skating.

“It really looks like the Georgetown area will be the ideal location,“ Steele said. “Georgetown is the sweet spot, where we can serve south of Dover and get into Laurel and Salisbury.”

The group formed a GoFundMe site online but waited until its website went live to begin advertising the fundraiser more extensively. For information or to donate, go to miracleicearena.com.

Chris Koch of Frederica said Sept. 5 that he has been actively lobbying state legislators and others for support of a new ice skating arena in the area.

Koch said he had played in an adult hockey league and has three sons who have played in the youth league. He has also coached the Havoc hockey team comprising high school students in Sussex and Kent counties, coached the Delmarva Warriors, and driven the zamboni to maintain the fairgrounds arena ice for years.

“I have an organization that needs ice,” he said. “Since they’re working on the buildings and sponsors, and trying to find land, I’m coming in as an interested party.”

Wayne Evans, the former general manager of Centre Ice, said the number of people participating in programs at the arena had grown to more than 1,000 in recent years. The ice rink was not open during summers.

Evans predicted a new year-round facility with two ice rinks in a central location near beach communities would attract many more participants.

It would be a venue for hockey tournaments and figure skating competitions, and the sport of curling would likely be introduced, he said.

An arena would likely employ more than 30 people, about half of them full time, Evans said. 

After the state fair board announced plans late last year to close the Harrington facility due to continuing expensive repairs, parents lobbied the fair board to reconsider. They were told the decision was final.

A plan began to focus around a Dover project already being planned for an ice arena for the Delaware Thunder semi-pro hockey team in the hopes of including the programs that used the fairgrounds arena.

Mayor Robin Christiansen supported a plan for a temporary skating rink this coming winter at Schutte Park as a step toward a permanent rink in a building planned there. The mayor could not be reached Sept. 5 for additional comment.

Christiansen and parents lobbied legislators to include money for the project in the state budget, but no funds were approved. 

That’s when the parents set out to pursue their own ice arena project, Steele said.

As the summer winds down, some hockey players and figure skaters who used the state fairgrounds arena have relocated to far-off ice rinks, while others have given up, at least for now, Steele said. 

“A lot of kids just can’t make that commitment,” he said.

With the influx of new residents from northern states, ice sports are quickly becoming more popular in Delaware, creating more demand for an ice rink in Sussex County, Steele said.

Koch said he believes fees paid by youths and adults who used Centre Ice could raise about $200,000 annually to help fund a simple new arena, which would include the rink, six locker rooms, bathrooms, and little or no seating.

The community has been very supportive in the past year for fundraisers that hockey teams have conducted for charities or to assist people who needed help, said Koch, who is hopeful they will support the ice rink project.

“The community is amazing,” he said. 

The planned $2 million project would cover a single ice rink, but there are plans to eventually add another, Steele said. The expansion would increase the total cost to $5 million and add a lounge, seating and training facilities.

“We need support from the local community,” Steele said.