Rink 2 Expansion Project & Fundraising
As of March, 2024:
We have raised: $6.5 Million!
CONSTRUCTION PROGRESS PHOTOS
All Donors - Are YOU on this LIST?
We are very excited to announce the addition of a bar and restrooms as part of the rink remodel and expansion. Top Shelf will be located upstairs in Verona Ice Arena‘s current mezzanine, and you‘ll be able to enjoy a tasty beverage soon!
Please consider making a gift and be a part of this exciting time at Verona Ice Arena!
PUCKS ARE FLYING AT TOP SHELF
Top Shelf will feature a bar with integrated custom hockey pucks. For $250 per puck, you can choose from a variety of designs and have your name (or child‘s name or business) printed on a puck to be placed in the new bar. There is a limit of 250 pucks!
Get yours now, and take advantage of this opportunity to have your name be part of the new space. There are 8 options to choose from (see link below), or you can supply your own puck (approval required). Payment is due at time of purchase. The money from puck sales will go toward the mezzanine updates at Verona Ice Arena.
Top Shelf will be a great addition to the Verona Ice Arena for many years to come. Please come and enjoy yourself in this space during youth practices and games.
NEW ICE COMING IN DECEMBER 2023
It's October now and everyone is gearing up for the new hockey season! Verona Ice Arena is filled with youth skaters hitting the ice for their winter teams. The new rink will provide practice and game ice for all of our youth teams as well as Edgewood High School. Take a look at at the progress photos and get excited for the newest sheet of ice in Wisconsin!
VASD SUPPORTS VIA EXPANSION
Last month, Verona Area School District voted to support the Verona Ice Arena and approved a $250,000 donation towards the expansion project. The Verona Press featured an article on February 8, 2023 if you are interested in reading more.
BREAKING GROUND
Thanks to the generosity of countless supporters, we have raised $5.6 Million out of our goal of $8 Million. Preliminary foundation and ground work began in early January of 2023. Though inflation increases and supply chain issues have hampered our expansion efforts, we are committed to building a new rink for the Verona and Edgewood communities, with a target completion of winter 2023.
On January 21, 2023, Verona Ice Arena held the official ground breaking ceremony for the new rink. Over 100 people braved the cold to support the exciting future of the Verona Ice Arena. Joel Marshall, Luke Diaz, Le Jordan, and Pete Rothering all spoke to the benefits the new rink will have on the community, hockey programs, and the City of Verona. Channel 3000 ran a segment on the ground breaking. A recording of the full ceremony can be found on our website.
While we are moving forward with the expansion, it will be necessary for I.C.E. Inc. to continue to fundraise until we reach the goal of $8 Million.
GROUND BREAKING CEREMONY
We officially broke ground on January 21, 2023.
2022 IN REVIEW
150+ Contributors
Wow! 2022 has been a year of exciting changes at Verona Ice Arena. Since announcing this project back in December 2021, we have raised over $5.3 million from over 150 generous contributors. We are so grateful for the outpouring of support from the community of skaters, and we are optimistic that our continued efforts will be rewarded so that we can make this project a reality.
In November 2022, I.C.E. Inc., announced that Engineered Construction of Verona, WI, will be the general contractor for this project. Our beloved outdoor rink, which once stood where the new rink will be built, has been donated to the City of Verona to be installed and used at Harriet Park for community use during the winter. At this time, we plan to move forward with preliminary demolition and foundation work beginning in December, with a completion target of winter 2023.
Every contribution is important to the success of this capital campaign, and we are humbled by the generosity and support you have shown for this project. I.C.E. Inc. will continue to fundraise and work toward our overall goal in order to secure “Ice For Kids of All Ages” for many years to come.
The second sheet of ice will have the following amenities:
- 40,000 Sq Ft with NHL size rink
- VAHS custom locker room
- EHS custom locker room
- Additional custom locker room
- 4 Team locker rooms
- Girls changing room
- Men, women, and family restrooms
- ADA compliant
- Upstairs open viewing area
- Off-ice training space
- Expanded zamboni and mechanical rooms
- Referee room
- Concessions
- 60+ new parking stalls
Ways To Support The New Rink
Thank you to everyone who has already contributed to this campaign. Your support has sparked interest in new naming opportunities. After overwhelming demand, we no longer have arena/lobby seating naming opportunities available.
As requested, we have split the current community room (a.k.a. The Mezzanine), into 15 new naming opportunities at $10,000 each. Sponsoring the community room will help build the rink and in time help renovate the upstairs. Your donation will be recognized on the donor wall as well as in the community room.
If you are interested in this or any other naming opportunity, please see our Donor Recognition Page
Rink2 Video (Log-in to Watch)
I.C.E., Inc. began a capital campaign, Ice for Kids of All Ages, to build a much-needed second sheet of ice for the community. The planned second sheet of ice would be built directly to the south of the existing building, where the current outdoor seasonal rink is located.
We currently need to raise $8 Million to build this facility. We need your help to raise funds and build awareness of our fundraising campaign!
For further information please click on the links below:
Version: Sept 2022
Upstairs Floor Plan
100 EXTRAORDINARY WOMEN EVENT - RAISED $220,000
On June 1, we celebrated the 100 Extraordinary Women initiative with a reception at the Palestrina Event Center in Verona. Drinks and hors d‘oeuvres were served, and participants were treated to an engaging panel of speakers discussing the past, present, and future of girls‘ hockey. This initiative kickstarted our larger capital campaign to fundraise for the new rink. We‘re excited to announce that as of June 1, 110 $1,000 donations or pledges were made in the names of 110 women, and when combined with a generous matching donor, $220,000 was raised for the new rink!
Judy Ferwerda, Brittany Spencer Grant, and Amanda Ferwerda presented their stories of the (very) early days of girls‘ hockey in Wisconsin. Judy is the godmother of all things girls’ hockey in Madison and throughout the state. She began the girls’ Capitols program when she saw the need to create a team for competitive girls to skate on as they aged up into the boys’ checking levels. And she’s left her mark at even higher levels, being instrumental in bringing women’s hockey to the collegiate NCAA varsity level at the University of Wisconsin.
Brittany and Amanda talked about the benefits and challenges being on those early girls’ teams: inconsistent practice and game times, lack of competitive teams in the local area, being able to travel and meet other high-level skaters across the country. Grace Bonnell and Kaya Pelton Byce of the Madison Metro Lynx spoke about the ways in which their experiences have been both different and similar. They were able to play with boys‘ team through their PW/U12 years because of the change in youth body-checking rules, and they were among the first girls to play with the Madison Mavericks U14 girls‘ team. But even though the Metro Lynx have received bids to the State Tournament twice in the last three years, the girls‘ high school varsity program still struggles with inconsistent game and practice times, and the boys‘ teams still receive the lion‘s share of publicity and attention.
Plans for the new rink include dedicated girls‘ changing rooms in both rinks to serve the needs of all girls playing at the youth levels. We are also pleased to announce the addition of a girls‘ high school varsity locker room in the new rink. Though future WIAA co-op alignments can be difficult to predict, Verona Ice Arena stands ready to provide a home to a future high school girls‘ varsity team.
Thank you to everyone who contributed to the 100 Extraordinary Women initiative. Your donations are an important step in making this new rink a reality and providing better opportunities for girls of all ages to skate.
THAT'S A WRAP!
Thank you to all the donations that came in November and December. We were able to maximize the offer and double the donations to the fullest. We raised the $150,000 and Wick Buildings matched them all. Wick Buildings is now our new sponsor of the Zamboni.