Ice center doubles seating
The Eccles Ice Center in North Logan has completed a $500,000 renovation that has doubled the seating capacity for all hockey games and added four new sections of reserved seats.
The Ice Center can now hold more than 2,000 people, up 1,000 from before the renovation.
“Well, it was a long time coming,” fundraising manager Janet Borg said. “You ask anyone who sat on the concrete. This will make all the difference in the world.”
The Ice Center will be the only rink in Utah where the Utah State hockey club will play with seats behind the team benches. All other rinks in Utah only have seats on the other side.
“It will be fun,” USU hockey head coach Jerry Crossley said. “I’d like to see them filled up.”
The Aggies won their first contest with the new seats last Saturday against the Weber State Division-II team by a score of 10-4 with fans filling in on both sides of the rink.
“I love [the bleachers],” goalie Chris Webber said. “I think they’re awesome. It gives us a little more exposure.”
The seats in existence before the renovation now have chairbacks, allowing for a more comfortable experience, Borg said.
The new chairback seats will be reserved seating for future hockey games, while the entire section of new bleachers will be general admission.
“This is a whole new facility now,” Borg said. “We have reserved, comfortable seats. I think once [people] come, they’ll realize that it’s a different experience.”
Borg said the amazing part of the renovation is that all the money needed for the renovations was donated.
“It was all donated, every dime,” she said.
Borg said that local taxes, businesses and citizens all contributed money to help with the upgrade.
Along with the new seating, the renovation also includes a dehumidification system and new bathrooms on the north side of the lobby.
Borg said this upgrade will go a long way in helping the Ice Center financially.
“We’re still not breaking even, but that’s part of the budget,” she said. “Our business increases every month and we don’t require any taxes [to cover operating costs]. I don’t see any slowdown in the direction we’re going – which is up.”
-bhhinton@cc.usu.edu