Ice rink to be installed just in time for winter fun
Nome’s ice rink construction is underway at its new location near the Nome Rec Center. Half of the new boards are up right now. Volunteers continue to work to get the rink ready for a mid to late November open date, according to Blake Bogart, president of the Nome Winter Sports Association, or WSA.
This winter the rink will be open for the hockey league and eventually free skate for kids and community members.
The mission of the WSA is to create winter activities for everyone in Nome, but especially children, Bogart said.
“We had an after-school program that was really popular, I mean aeasily 30 to 50 kids came a night,” Bogart said “We still want to offer that service, have these opportunities, whether its kids learning how to skate or if they want to pick up hockey or broom ball or whatever.”
The project has been a long time coming, with the City of Nome first suggested they wanted to use the old rink location between First and Second Avenue for a housing complex for teachers and police officers. During these meetings, WSA members determined it would be better to move to a new location and start over, as their boards were very old and in need of replacement. “It was either put a bunch of money in that spot and have it be the same thing or go somewhere else where we can eventually put a cover on it and expand our abilities,” Bogart said.
The long-term vision is to create a covered ice rink and build out the warming hut to have locker rooms, bathrooms, storage and a space for people to warm up with an attendant to manage it.
Bogart has big dreams of a multi-use sports arena with roller skating, soccer and basketball in the summer. Currently the city is pursuing grant funding to make that a reality.
Right now, the volunteers and WSA members have to maintain the uncovered rink which can be difficult and time consuming. Bogart said volunteers can put up to 30 hours a week into maintaining the ice so people can skate. There are concerns with the new location being further out of town and less surrounded by buildings, making the rink more susceptible to snow accumulation. Bogart insisted the group of “die hards” will continue to keep up the rink.
The old hut is being moved to the new location where it will be placed next to another building that was donated by Norton Sound Health Corporation.
Bogart said it took a lot of people and entities to get this project where it is. Norton Sound Economic Development Corporation donated the money for the new boards. The City of Nome did its part in finding the right location, placing it strate
gically between other sports-related lots, specifically the Rec Center, which can be utilized for its water and power. The city’s Public Works staff leveled the property in preparation for the rink. Nome Joint Utilities is putting up four light posts to keep the area lit through the dark winter. Alaska Marine Lines transported the boards to Nome on time, and Q Trucking donated the move of the boards to the new location, Bogart said.
The biggest thing was getting new boards for the rink, as the old ones were fashioned out of plywood and were rotting away. Bogart connected with Athletica Sports Systems that specializes in manufacturing dasher boards for rinks and is the main supplier for the National Hockey League and American Hockey League. “We often work with projects like the one in Nome where there’s a restricted budget and a lot of community support and volunteers in a unique location,” Athletica Director of Sales Reid Hart told the Nugget.
Bogart worked with Hart for years to find the right boards for Nome’s rink. Hart came to Bogart with second-hand boards from the Toyota Arena in Ontario, California where the AHL team Ontario Reign plays. The boards are relatively new and in great condition.
“He [Hart] was really rooting for us,” Bogart said “There were so many people we’ve never met who thought our mission was cool and wanted to help out. It was hard work to do this, it’s all a volunteer thing and that can be difficult to keep the momentum, so it was cool to see people care about it.”
Teacher and officer housing to replace rink
The rink was initially proposed to move to make way for a housing project for teachers and police officers. Due to lack of funding, the plan has been pushed to the future with the City looking for ways to pay for the much needed housing, City Manager Glenn Steckman told the Nugget.
Nome Public Schools Superintendent Jamie Burgess said the architectural drawings for the building are ready to send to the state fire marshal for review but the funding is stopping progress. It’s been a struggle since the original cost of the building doubled due to COVID inflation.
“Right now, we’re short about $6.1 million,” Steckman said “We recognize if we want a stable police force and a stable teaching workforce we have to improve the housing opportunities for those folks.”