After teasing you with bits + pieces on Lakeland’s future ice arena, we decided it was time to put the details out onto the open rink.
Lakeland Ice Arena (3395 W. Memorial Blvd.) is perfectly placed off of I-4 for the commuters of Orlando + Tampa. The space will feature tables, benches + bar tops repurposed from the 40 wooden lanes of the bowling alley that previously occupied the space.
Owner Paul Granville is looking to make the rink a part of the community – from public skating with the family (at $12 per person with skate rentals included) to a couples’ date night destination.
Tampa Bay Lightning will host programming and instruction on skating + hockey. The arena will be home to Florida Southern College’s new hockey team, with their own designated locker room. Their games will be played Saturday nights with free admission and feature a public skate with the team afterwards.
The arena will also be home to in-house recreational hockey + travel hockey, including the Lakeland Royals and the George Jenkins High School Ice Hockey team (which will have its first hockey home game after having a team for 15 years).
The 50,000 sq. ft. space will include:
- Locker rooms
- Individual workstations with WiFi (specifically for parents when their kids are practicing)
- A 120-person bar
- Rinkside Sports – a pro shop that sells equipment
- A game room
- Sweet Tooth concession stand
- Two conference/party rooms
- An indoor ball-hockey room
- Snakepit – a viewing area for Florida Southern College fans
- Standley’s Pizza
- Celly’s – an American restaurant
Future plans include:
- A 14,000 sq. ft. outdoor pavilion
- An outdoor ball-hockey rink
- Another sheet of ice
The opening date for the rink has not yet been announced, but we’ll be sure to keep you in the loop.