North Commons program navigates outdoor hockey in a warming state
Young hockey players take to the North Commons Park ice rink for a January evening practice. A group is trying to raise money for a refrigerated outdoor pavilion because of warmer winters. Photo by David Pierini
By David Pierini, Editor
January was cold, but nothing warms the heart like the sound of freshly sharpened skates scratching the ice at the North Commons Park outdoor rink.
The frigid conditions are welcome after last year’s unseasonably warm winter, which left the rink in puddles and sent the park’s hockey and figure skating program to indoor rinks.
The Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board spent big bucks on indoor ice time last season to keep the low-cost program running. That bill and climate change make a strong case for bringing a refrigerated outdoor rink to the park.
“There was one Monday where we had 10 degrees, and it was kind of perfect,” said Mark Chapin, a coach who chairs the capital campaign committee for a new rink. “Then by Thursday, it was like a swimming pool. A recreational program really relies on outdoor ice.”
In a sport that seems out of reach to low-income families, the North Commons program offers the lowest barriers to entry. Kids can borrow the necessary equipment - skates, caged helmets, sticks and more. Fees are as low as $15.
On any practice night, the warming room is filled with African-American, White, Somali, and Hmong families, a rich diversity not often seen on North American rinks.
A refrigerated rink was part of an ambitious renovation plan for North Commons Park. However, soaring costs and fundraising forecasts caused the park board to scale back the renovation and put an updated rink on hold.
Coach Mark Chapin organizes some pee wee players for a passing and shooting drill. Photo by David Pierini
New Directions Youth Ministry, the non-profit that runs the program, is starting to raise money for the outdoor rink. It has received enough money to hire an architect to draw up plans for an outdoor sports pavilion with a roof and a refrigeration system that could guarantee ice time that runs from the end of November to deep into March.
Creating a sustainable outdoor rink ranges from $4 million to $14 million. On the low end, the rink would not have a roof, and the copper piping used to keep the ice at a consistent temperature would be vulnerable to theft. A roof and a more secure enclosure for pipes bump the price up considerably.
“Hockey was meant to be played outdoors, said Dale Hume, “The reality of the situation is if hockey continues to be at indoor venues, it becomes expensive and hard to access.”
When the park board voted last year to move forward with the North Commons Park renovations without the rink, several board members expressed interest in bringing more than a refrigerated rink to city parks.
Saint Paul has a few refrigerated outdoor rinks and one is in St. Louis Park. New Directions hired the architects who designed a steel-covered rink in Eden Prairie.
Hume proposes a year-round sports pavilion with a cement area to accommodate basketball or roller hockey in the summertime.
The location of the rink or pavilion depends on the renovations that begin this summer. Hume hopes the park board will consider expanding the warming room and providing a larger space for the equipment provided to participating children.
One night in early January, Keebo Phothisane entered the warming room wearing a USA hockey jersey. He learned hockey as a middle schooler at North Commons and was now bringing his son, Ethan, a goalie, to practices.
“I would love to see us get the (refrigerated) rink,” Phothisane said. “When we didn’t have ice here, we had to go to the suburbs to get the kids on the ice. It would be beneficial to the community to get a new rink.