Unique ice rink on the way

Brandon Valley Hockey Association has “changed gears,” according to BVHA president Tom Cauwels, and now the group is focusing on upgrading the city’s outdoor rink.

“We’ve changed gears in the sense that we’re going to build our outdoor rink first but we are still campaigning and raising funds for the indoor rink since it wasn’t coming together as fast as we had planned or hoped,” he said. “This is the best option we could come up with, and we’re going to make it work. It’s not an indoor rink; we need millions of dollars for that, and we can do this for fractions of that.”

Cauwels said the Association is investing more than $500,000 in a refrigerated ice system that will allow the game to be played October through March with temperatures up to 55 degrees Fahrenheit. 

“It’s a refrigerated ice system and will be like any other ice refrigeration system in any indoor rink, except ours isn’t going to have a roof over it,” Cauwels said. “As long as we’re under 55 degrees, we should be able to maintain the ice.”

Barb Fish, who is the Brandon Council’s liaison to the city parks department, praised the BVHA for their dedication.

“BVHA has been working extremely hard to put the new hockey facility together. I think the new outdoor option is a good transitional step as they move toward the goal of having our hockey players play in their own rink,” she said.  

The BVHA acquired the used system from the University of Michigan, Cauwels said.

“They set it up for their hockey team inside their football stadium for a few games their team played there,” Cauwels said. “It’s a few years old, but well taken care of.”

In addition to the upgraded ice system, Cauwels said two portable sheds, to be used as locker rooms, will be brought in. Additional lighting and parking lot improvements are also among the plans.

When the BVHA does move ahead with the indoor rink, Cauwels said the refrigeration system can be relocated to the indoor rink.

“The plan is once we build our indoor rink, we’ll be able to move this and we’ll have two sheets of refrigerated ice, one indoor and one outdoor,” he said.

Aspen Park has long been eyed as the site for the indoor rink. 

“The plan is to move it wherever our new rink will go, and the site always talked about has been Aspen Park,” he said.

The BVHA needs to raise $6 million to do a turnkey rink, Cauwels said, adding that $1.75 million is their trigger point to start work on it.

“Then we’ll continue to fundraise while the project is going on and will be able to finish the project as it is going on,” he said.

Ideally, Cauwels added, the indoor rink construction would take eight months.

“if we could get started early spring, that following fall would be a reasonable expectation to be skating inside,” he said. “We wanted the indoor rink like last month, ideally, but this (new refrigerated system) buys us a little bit of time. If we can skate outdoor this season and next season, and possibly a third year, I think that will give us more than enough time to raise funds, find some ground, work with the city and get this built. We were hoping in two years that we could have it, but the cards didn’t line up that way, but I’m still very confident it will happen.”

Cauwels said the BVHA has asked the city to help with some improvements on the ice rink side, namely electricity and planting trees for windbreak.

“It’s been our policy to help associations with some of the costs once they come forward and commit funds that they have raised,” Fish said, noting the Park Board’s request for $75,000 of their budget to help with infrastructure costs. Ultimately, the City Council will determine if that is a priority for next year.

“Brandon is a great town in the respect that the parents jump in to get things done. Whether it is soccer, tennis, baseball, softball and now hockey, it is vital that they do the fundraising so that projects can be accomplished,” Fish said. “The City likes to help, but we have a limited budget so this is a great way of working cooperatively. We appreciate the concept that the city is here to help, but not cover the majority of the financing.”

Funding for this upgrade is separate from the BVHA’s fundraising campaign for the indoor rink. Cauwels said hockey families have pledged donations over the next five years in addition to securing a loan. In addition, the BVHA is selling 1,000 ice rink squares for $150 each, and have 2,000 raffle tickets ($50 each) for a chance to win a 2017 Polaris Ranger Crew and other prizes that will be given away Sept. 9. Raffle tickets, which will be sold up until the time of the drawing, are available from any BVHA member or visit brandonvalleyhockey.com to learn more.

Although work will be well underway, the BVHA has planned a noon ribbon cutting and subsequent celebration from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. for Saturday, Sept. 9, at the McHardy Park rink. The public is invited.

A cement base is scheduled to be poured from 2 to 5 p.m. this Thursday.

BVHA leadership is confident the upgraded rink will be a great addition to the community, as it will serve a need that the town - and region - does not yet have in order to further develop the fast-growing field of ice sports. 

“A lot of work has gone into getting us to where we’re at now. When the Association started those parents worked tirelessly to get it going, bring that rink to town and get the boards in town. It’s the same for this project, as parents will be relied on heavily for volunteers,” Cauwel said.

With the recent popularity of ice sports, securing time on area rinks has become difficult in recent years, Association members say. 

“The (SCHEELS) Iceplex (in Sioux Falls) is flat out of ice time,” Cauwels said, “and we’ve doubled the number of kids in our Association.”

Currently, the BVHA has more than 90 players (ages 4-13) that have been traveling to Sioux Falls for practice time there. And that time is well limited, as the Sioux Falls ice complex is shared by a variety of other teams and organizations, Cauwels added.

The new rink won’t be limited to just the BVHA. Cauwels said the public will also have access to the new ice rink. Open skate times will be arranged, in addition to times that it will be used for organized practices, games and tournaments.  

To learn more, Cauwels can be reached at (605) 951-5257.