Outdoor ice rink opens in Ponderay

PONDERAY — After Ponderay Mayor Steve Geiger cut the ribbon Friday evening, skaters for the first time took the ice at The Pond Presented by STCU — Bonner County's lone public ice rink.

With dusk turning to night, dozens of skaters made laps under a canopy of string lights as festive music played and onlookers visited food and beverage vendors.

“What an amazing, incredible thing that we're all seeing here today,” Geiger told attendees at the event. “After so many years of everybody talking about ice skating and ice rinks ... we are finally making it happen here in Ponderay today.”

Attempts to bring an ice rink to the Sandpoint area can be traced back decades. The current project got its start in 2021 when Tim Wilson, Adam Hall, Derek Secor and Travis Taylor teamed up to form the nonprofit North Idaho Ice with the sole mission of creating a local venue for ice sports.

“I've been here for 16-17 years, and it's always been like, ‘We'll have a rink next year,’” Taylor said. “About three years ago, a bunch of us got together and formed a nonprofit and said, ‘Let's just get this done.’” 

The group began planning and fundraising; it wasn’t long before the city of Ponderay offered to get involved in the project, providing a needed boost to the initiative. Ponderay contributed the land beside Kootenai Cutoff Road currently serving as the rink’s temporary location and offered additional help pursuing grants and generating funds. 

“I don't know how else you could do something like this without a municipal partnership,” Taylor said. “I think it helps the validity to the cause, when you have a city and a nonprofit working together and all pulling in the same direction.” 

NIICE’s initiative gained momentum after the group hosted a June dinner and auction fundraiser that netted $30,000 and raised awareness of the project. 

“The fundraiser was the turning point,” Taylor said. “Once we got the first person to donate, they all just kept coming in.” 

As of Nov. 29, the rink’s GoFundMe donation page shows $151,670 in contributions since it launched nine months ago and includes numerous four-figure donations from residents and local businesses. That fundraising surge enabled the organizers to purchase a lightly used all-inclusive rink set and solidify the ultimate product: a gravel parking lot, a large wooden patio with several benches, a small rental shop and Zamboni garage with 300 pairs of skates, and a 130-foot rink under a canopy of festive lights. 

“We were able to get it at a great rate, and it's in fantastic shape,” Ponderay Planning and Zoning Director KayLeigh Miller said of the rink set, later emphasizing the importance of looking for value when pursuing a project like this.  

“It’s been funded 100% through grants, fundraising efforts, donations and advertising,” she added. “We’ve just trying to keep it super cost effective for the city — that's been a big goal.” 

In addition to cash donations and advertisement purchases, local companies also contributed in-kind services to bring the site to life. Idaho Forest Group donated the lumber for a large wooden patio. Avista Utilities helped establish lighting at the location. Tamarack Ridge Media helped print signs for the site; many others offered some form of material or labor to chip in on the project. 

“There've been so many people that have helped out with this, in one way or another,” Taylor said. 

With the infrastructure in place, both Miller and Taylor believe the rink’s operation this winter will allow residents to recognize the true scale of local interest in hockey and other ice sports.  

“A lot of people are driving to Coeur d’Alene and putting their kids on teams down there,” Miller said. “I think as soon as they have the opportunity, they'll be up here.” 

Taylor, who has spent years shuttling his child to the nearest rink in Couer d’Alene several times per week, echoed Miller’s assessment. 

“Having something here locally, I think it's just going to explode,” Taylor said. “This location is going to create a lot of visibility to exactly how much this amenity was missed over the last several years.” 

After Friday, the rink will host open skating sessions, “stick and puck” informal hockey practices, and be available for event rental. The rates for use and skate rental — $10 for kids and $15 for adults per 1 1/2-hour session — are designed to make the facility as accessible as possible, according to Taylor.

“That’s as cheap as we can go,” Taylor said of the ticket prices. “I'd love to be able to offer for free, but we have bills to pay, too.” 

Ticket revenue will primarily cover the costs of staffing, maintaining and cooling the rink, but a portion of all user fee revenue will also go toward future projects planned by Ponderay and NIICE. 

Friday’s grand opening marked the completion of the first of three phases in a larger initiative to bring ice sports to Ponderay. Next up is a project to relocate the rink 1/2 mile north to its permanent location at the Field of Dreams Recreation Complex and add a protective steel roof to better maintain ice quality and expand the number of operable days per year. 

Eventually, Ponderay and NIICE hope to add an additional indoor facility at the Field of Dreams that includes a full-size hockey rink capable of hosting competitive games at every level. A venue like that would allow the complex to hold sports tournaments that bring athletes and spectators to the area — and an economic boost from their food and lodging purchases.

The continued development of the Field of Dreams, however, is contingent on Ponderay officials and residents agreeing to a funding structure. The first stage of the complex opened in August and was funded by a 5-year, 1% sales tax passed by voters in 2019. 

With that measure set to expire at the end of 2024, a 10-year version of the tax aiming to support the Field of Dreams and other public recreation projects appeared on the general election ballot in November. Voters rejected the new tax, leaving the path to a more developed complex — and an indoor ice rink in Ponderay — unclear. 

For now, the rink’s creators are focusing on providing the initial amenity to the community and navigating the challenges of staffing, maintaining and operating an outdoor sports venue in North Idaho. 

“This has been a grassroots effort, and it's going to continue to be that way as we run it through the season this first year,” Miller said, who added she would rely heavily on volunteers as the rink hosts skaters this winter. 

“This has all been very much a learning experience for all of us every day,” she added. “One problem at a time, one step at a time.” 

    Ponderay Mayor Steve Geiger cuts the ribbon on The Pond Presented by STCU Friday evening.
  

    The new 130-foot ice rink features a canopy of string lights and a large Christmas tree.