Campus Recreation at Illinois will hold a grand reopening of the newly renovated Ice Arena on Friday, Sept. 15 from 7:30 to 9:30 p.m. Remarks from Marcus Jackson, the director of Campus Recreation, will be at 7:30 p.m.
Free admission and skate rental will be available until 9:30 p.m., and food will be provided by Insomnia Cookies and Jimmy John’s. There will also be prizes to win.
The Ice Arena was built in 1931, and Campus Recreation assumed management in 1977. The recent renovations include new lighting and flooring in the lobby and offices, new dasher boards (the walls around the rink) and new ice-making and cooling elements. The only ice arena in Champaign and Urbana has four locker rooms, four party areas, two ice-resurfacing machines and seats 1,200 spectators.
The Ice Arena is located on the west side of campus near the Armory at 406 E. Armory Ave., Champaign. It offers many ice skating programs and is home to a variety of clubs. Public skate hours are Wednesday, 7:30-9:30 p.m.; Friday, 7:30-9:30 p.m.; Saturday, 1:30-4 p.m. (Saturday public skate hours begin Oct. 21); and Sunday, 1:30-4 p.m. Lunch time skate hours are Monday-Friday 11:15 a.m.-12:45 p.m. Times are subject to change. Check the online calendar for updates.
