SOUTH BEND, Ind. (WNDU) – For more than 50 years, the Ice Box has been at the center of South Bend hockey.
On Thursday, the iconic venue reopened and unveiled some major improvements.
City leaders, former Notre Dame hockey players and assorted hockey moms and dads were all on hand for the big event.
The Ice Box may be far more than a hockey venue. It is the hub intersection for a community, a force of good where friends are made for life and where unbreakable bonds form a permanent sense of home.
This is a group that loves hockey.
Mayor James Mueller knows how important this place is to the community it serves.
“When we talk about opportunities for all, it goes beyond economic opportunities, it goes to quality of life to who we are as people and the relationships we form,” Mayor Mueller said.
“I want to thank Ancon Construction for the phenomenal job they did in moving this entire project forward,” said Pat McMahon, an Ice Box board member.
Moving forward required an investment of $12 million in the project from business donors, individual donors and the City of South Bend.
The improvements include a new refrigeration system and significant expansion, including a third frozen arena.
“It’s really going to broaden what they are going to be able to do here, which is going to be great for South Bend as well,” said Cooper Douwsma, captain of the South Bend Sled Rovers.
Dousma plays and practices at the Ice Box. As the name implies, the Sled Rovers play hockey on sleds, but the rest of it is no different.
For all who play hockey here it is their source of joy, the thing that brings them together as a finding force for good.
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