Refurbished Alice Noble Ice Arena ready to reopen
Along with all the other summer programming going on at Alice Noble Ice Arena, the facility also will be able to host birthday parties beginning in July.
When Hart Duddy looked around the Alice Noble Ice Arena a few months ago, he didn’t like what he saw. Not that things were awful in the 20-year-old facility, just that they could have been better.
This was before Duddy accepted the job as general manager at the rink, a gig he wasn’t going to accept without some assurances he could upgrade the place to his satisfaction.
Everywhere Duddy looked, he saw the need for upgrades, sometimes major ones.
“The rink didn’t seem the same,” he said. “It seemed very unwelcoming. That’s all I could think of. It was like it hadn’t been as well taken care of. When I was offered the job, the first thing I wanted to do was check all the systems. Then I said, ‘This thing needs a complete facelift.’
“With the cooperation and blessing of Dave Noble and the Noble Foundation, as well as NEO Ice, they said, ‘Go ahead and let us know what you have to do.’ Step by step I went through the rink to see what needed to be done.”
Duddy had been here before. He became coach of the Wooster Oilers hockey team in April 2008 and held that job for four years. He left for a few years and this past winter interviewed with Noble about coming back.
Noble asked Duddy what he would do right away, and he said trouble-shoot. And that’s what he did. Beginning in March, he started to look at everything with white gloves and a microscope. There weren’t giant problems but enough little ones to be a pretty big one overall.
“We needed to give it a facelift,” Duddy said. “Things like security have been neglected over the years. We started in the lobby and painted the entire lobby where the old pro shop is. The concession stand needed to be completely overhauled. In the bowl, it needed a complete facelift too. We completely painted the whole bowl. We want to make sure we still have the best ice in Ohio, which is kind of the way it’s always been.”
Duddy said he is still waiting on quotes for landscaping, so the improvements won’t be limited to the interior. He said just about everything in the place was original, most dating back to the early-2000s.
“Even the operating system was old,” Duddy said. “That was like from 2007-09 when they brought in a whole new operating system. The concession stand hadn’t had anything done since 2010. We’re thinking about switching from Coke to Pepsi to see if they can offer anything better. The No. 1 thing — and it might and it sounds strange — is replacing the old Icee Machine. There was one knob for Coca-Cola, one for strawberry. It was leaking all over the counter. An old oil fryer just sat on the counter. We’re getting a commercial air fryer.”
Penny Vanata, who oversees community outreach for the facility, which this past September celebrated its 20-year anniversary, said they had a wonderful turnout from the community, who really showed how much Alice Noble Ice Arena is loved.
At that time the Noble Foundation donated some funds for fresh paint and some new special attractions in the rink. Those include an arcade, Vanata said, a RapidShot — hockey’s version of baseball batting cages — which should arrive later this summer, and a basketball court outdoors.
With the facility set for a June 5 opening, Vanata said the June Woo Summer Camp for kids age 5-12 will begin then and run through Aug. 5. The facility’s Learn to Play Hockey program will begin June 9. The Aspire program for serious figure skaters will start in June as well, with Learn to Skate beginning in July and running Wednesdays at 11 a.m. and 5 p.m. The facility also will be able to host birthday parties beginning in July.
Duddy said people have been in the building to sign up their kids for various programs and that the reaction has been positive.
“They’re like, ‘Wow,’ and right now it looks like a war zone because everything is torn up,” he said. “We’re replacing fluorescent lighting with LED lights, things like that. It’s going to be well received. You’re going to notice it as soon as you come in.”
Changes include moving the skate rental counter a bit and the skate-sharpening machine getting its own room to cut down on the dust.
“This is something that should have been done years ago,” Duddy said. “Maybe I was brought in at the right time or had the right sales pitch.”
Duddy said inquiries for ice time already have increased. A Triple-A hockey team, the Ohio Prospects, is looking for a home rink and inquired about the Noble Arena.
“They have a couple of their teams looking to play out of Wooster,” Duddy said. “Adaptive (Sports) has been around a while. They’re increasing their usage. The Wooster Youth Organization has been using more ice time. We’re meeting with the figure skating club. I anticipate them getting stronger. We want to get them back on track again. At one time that club was really strong, but it’s faded off a little bit.”
Public skating availability will still be a priority. Duddy said public ice time was on the rise before he got there, and he sees that trend continuing.
All he needs to do now is make sure there are enough skates for everyone.
“I’ve been shopping for new skates for skate rental,” he said. “It’s hard to find a quantity of skates like that since COVID.”
For more information about programs or ice availability, call 330-345-8686 or visit www.nobleice.com.