HUNTSVILLE – An all-time classic movie produced what has become one of the most hackneyed phrases in all of sportsdom and beyond. Build it and they will come, whispered the unseen fantasy voiceover in 1989’s “Field of Dreams.” The time has come for a script rewrite.
Maybe, “They came, so we’ll build it.’’ Or at least make it bigger as Huntsville’s population and interest among its residents grow simultaneously. They came, so the city must continue to react.
In one of the latest moves stoked by becoming the largest city in the state, the Huntsville City Council approved a $1.6 million design contract to Arcspace Studio to expand the Huntsville Ice Sports Center.
The facility has long been heavily used by a community with deep roots in sports like hockey that aren’t so fashionable in other surrounding cities and states. Activities such as hockey, figure skating, public skating, lessons and parties over the years have been joined by curling, broomball and large events such as regional tournaments.
To meet the growing demand, the center is expanding.
The contract with Arcspace includes adding:
- Two full-size ice rinks with seating
- A new dedicated curling rink
- Amenity upgrades
- A new parking lot
- Sod and landscaping
- Plaza site utilities
Start and expected completion dates have not been announced.
The center is also used as a practice site for the Huntsville Havoc, UAH hockey and the Rocket City Curling Club. Of the two existing rinks, the Havoc have used one that has seating as an alternate home site for games when there’s been a scheduling conflict at the Von Braun Center.
The total cost approved by the council is $1,638,986. The bill for the additions and improvements will be paid by the City of Huntsville.
The Huntsville Ice Sports Center is on Leeman Ferry Road at the facility originally named the Benton H. Wilcoxon Municipal Iceplex when it opened in the early 1990s. It was preceded by the single-rink Ice Palace, which Wilcoxon opened in 1959 when not many facilities of its kind were found in the Deep South. The Ice Palace was off Governors Drive located behind what older Huntsvillians will remember as Fred Sington Sporting Goods.
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