Ice arena in need of millions of dollars in repairs; officials weighing option to repurpose space

A local ice arena is in need of repairs and city officials are weighing their options, as they believe it will take millions of dollars to renovate.

Officials in Kettering told News Center 7′s Mason Fletcher that it would take at least $10 million to renovate the ice rink, in addition to fixing other things inside the Kettering Recreation Complex. Repairs for the arena would involve fixing things like the three compressors that make the ice, a new roof system, and air conditioning.

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Jeff Milano, President of the Dayton Hockey Association, said that it would be “crippling” to not have the option to use the Kettering Ice Arena. The arena has been essential for their youth hockey programs.

“We’ve only got three here in Dayton and the Dayton area, and they’re full,” Milano said. “We can’t get, as an organization right now with Springfield and Kettering – we can’t get enough ice to do everything we want to do.”

Steve Bergstresser, Kettering’s Assistant City Manager, said the main issue at the rink is making ice.

“Probably the single biggest component that’s in need of repair right now are the actual compressor units that make the ice itself,” Bergstresser said.

Bergstresser explained that the arena uses three compressors that are 50 years old and finding replacement parts has been difficult.

“We’ve had to actually scour the internet and, you know, scour metal fabricators that can actually make the part,” he said.

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The city isn’t concerned about the lack of ice this year but since the problems with the compressors haven’t gotten better, the city may look to use the ice rink for something else next year.

Milano believes there would be a big push to keep it.

“I think that would be – you’d see a very large movement of the hockey community, you know, wanting to make sure that it’s known how important it is to the people of the area,” Milano said.

As shown on News Center 7 at 5:30 , we asked several times about a potential timeline and were told the city is looking to make decisions around the end of the year.