The Peoria Park District is gearing up for a major overhaul of the Owens Ice Center, brought about by the need to replace the outdated system that freezes the ice on the rinks.
Similar to the Peoria Civic Center, the nearly 50-year-old facility in Lakeview Park needs a new ice plant because the current one uses a coolant that is no longer available.
Peoria Park District Executive Director Emily Cahill said the ice plant replacement provides an opportunity to explore renovating the entire facility.
“We’re expanding the scope of the redevelopment project to include changing out visitor experience,” said Cahill, putting initial estimates for the entire upgrade at between $18-$20 million.
“We see more than 200,000 people through that facility every year, so it’s important for us to provide them with a positive experience while they are spending time with us.”
The planned renovations include reworking traffic patterns to ease congestion, providing more spectator space around both ice rinks and improving the locker rooms.
“Certainly the user groups have changed over these 50 years, so we’ll have some dedicated locker space for females, which will be a nice addition for those ladies who are playing hockey or ice skating to have their own space,” said Cahill.
Details outlined on renderings provided by the park district include a new 3,000 square-foot-entry and vestibule, a larger concession kitchen with an expanded menu, new office space and storage for rental skates and additional parking.
Cahill said the park district likely will explore borrowing money and pursuing community fundraising to cover project expenses.
“We’ll be looking at different ways to fund that; our primary source will be public funding,” she said. “We will be certainly looking to the community to show their commitment to the facility on any fundraising that we’re able to do with folks who feel a strong connection to hockey and ice skating in our community.”
Cahill said much of the project and board approvals will occur in phases, likely beginning next spring. She said the goal is to have a bulk of the work performed in 2028.
“Anytime you are redeveloping or reimagining a physical space, as opposed to building something new, you have to really be thoughtful about how you use the space available to you,” said Cahill, noting some initial work was performed last year in preparation for the larger renovation.
“We’ve been doing a lot of that behind the scenes legwork in order to get to these next couple of weeks, where we can start to share our progress and engage with folks to certainly get them excited about what’s coming.”
Park District officials intend to share more details and gather public input on the project during a “Talk About It” forum session scheduled for 5:30 p.m. next Tuesday at the Owens Ice Center.
