The Palouse Ice Rink is celebrating its 20th anniversary this week since it first opened to the community in 2001.
Initially built as a temporary setup, the rink was not meant to withstand two decades of use. Now, plans are in action to build at a permanent location with full facilities.
According to Director of Fundraising Christina Randal, the current rink is just three-fourths the size of an average rink.
“We can’t host tournaments for above five or six-year-olds,” Randal said. “If we do adult scrimmage, it’s like four-on-four instead of six (or more).”
Northwest River Supplies, a local sporting goods company, has been a significant supporter of the project. After moving out of their large building on South Main Street, NRS sold it to Palouse Ice Rink at a reduced price.
Renovations were meant to start in February, but the rink is still figuring out how to fund the project in its entirety.
“Once we get the financing ironed out, we’ll be moving forward with renovating the building,” Randal said. “We’ll have a full-sized sheet of ice. It’ll bring a lot of people to town.”
The rink is halfway to a goal of $1,250,000. Many local businesses have contributed to the rink’s fundraising, including the City of Moscow, who donated $1 million to the rink back in 2016.
Randal said the newer facility would be able to stay open late, appealing to the college student demographic. The rink will be able to stay open longer in the year as well.
“We’ll be able to have more programs,” Randal said. “We’ll be able to expand our offerings, and more people will have something to do in the winter, right here, in town.”
Due to the rink’s current size, local hockey teams are forced to play their home games in a different town, often Cheney, Washington.
Wyatt Tatakis, president of University of Idaho Men’s Ice Hockey, sees the new rink as an opportunity to help expand the team.
Tatakis has been a part of the team for four years, practicing at the Palouse Ice Rink since being a freshman.
“It’s tough because it’s not a full sized rink,” Tatakis said. “We can’t really play traditional five-on-five hockey.”
While the small rink seats fans close by, at the glass, the team can’t play actual league games there. The rink is only used for practices and exhibition games.
“It could absolutely skyrocket the team,” Tatakis said. “I think having a five-on-five rink is the next step we’re looking for to grow our team.”
The men’s ice hockey team began struggling with recruitment and establishing themselves as a club, according to Tatakis.
In addition to a full-sized sheet of ice, he hopes for a larger locker room that can be used by two teams along with proper bathroom facilities instead of the current porta potty.
“That building was only supposed to last for 10 or 12 years,” Tatakis said.
Tatakis sees the new rink as a benefit to the whole community.
“Lewiston, Clarkston, Pullman and Moscow can all have an ice rink within a 30 or 45 minute drive that they wouldn’t have had access to otherwise,” Tatakis said. “I think it’s going to generate an influx of people to the area because it’s one of a kind at this point.”
Funding is still in consideration and renovations have not yet started, but Randal still hopes to open it in fall 2021.
“We are not sure yet, there’s a lot of moving parts,” Randal said. “We’re hoping to still be able to open in the fall, but it depends on how quickly the funding comes in.”
With the Palouse Ice Rink’s 20th anniversary April 8, there will be an open house at the future rink’s location from 5-7 p.m.
Haadiya Tariq can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter @haadiyatariq
Correction: This story has been updated to reflect NRS moved out of the building at South Main Street.