Story Published: Feb 10, 2008 at 7:06 PM MDT
Story Updated: Nov 7, 2008 at 1:18 PM MDT
By Kris Keach
Normally that would be a good thing but …
Anthony Peterson: “This ice is being used pretty much 24 hours a day. We’re finally getting a nice ice time but it’s usually six o’clock in the morning or nine o’clock at night for these kids.”
Ryan Theil: “I believe a new rink would open up some better time frames for these kids that have to get up and go to school the next morning.”
Kids feel cheated too.
Garrison Graff: “The time that we can get on the ice is not that much maybe one hour a day.
Currently the rink is open 20 hours a day 7 days a week but it’s still not enough for the nearly 12-hundred skaters sharing the ice.
The four locker rooms have little ventilation and…
Douglas Blank: “Typically you’ve got two teams dressing, you’ve got two teams coming off the ice and were moving people out as best we can but we need more locker room space.”
Wooden benches and the freezing cold area around the rink make it difficult to watch games.
Douglas Blank: “You get parents looking at this and saying, ‘You know what, I don’t want to stand out there in the cold to watch a game. I don’t want to travel all the way to idaho falls to stand in a facility like this.”
The committee hopes to get help from the city and local citizens to fund the building of a second rink.
Rink officials say competition is also hurt by the outdated facility.
And they point out a new rink could also be used for car shows and other activities as well.
To learn more about time on the ice or to help with plans to get a new rink contact the Idaho Falls Youth Hockey League at 208-524-1331 or on the web at www.ifyha.org.
