Bird Ice Arena is finishing renovations and is set to reopen in January 2025 after receiving a new roof, insulation, paint, ice plant and chiller.
The arena shut down in March, a month earlier than it normally closes, and was initially supposed to open in October.
Sofie Kendel, assistant coach for the synchronized skating team, said the extended time impacted the timeline of the season and caused them to be unable to compete in a recent competition.
“Usually, teams are done with their tryouts and done with choreography by August, so we already are behind some months,” Kendel said. “It just makes us less prepared as opposed to other teams.”
Kendel said the university has not been doing its best to communicate updates regarding the arena.
Ohio University published a press release Oct. 24 disclosing when the arena would be open and said the arena is temporarily closed to house repairs for an unexpected facility equipment issue for maintaining the arena’s ice.
Jackson Balemian, a sophomore studying exercise psychology, is an assistant captain for LUG Sports, an organization that helps arrange recreational sports for the college Hockey Team. He said the school has not communicated well and is worried about the rink opening.
“All I know is that it's expensive, and (the university) should just put that money into building a new arena,” Balemian said.
Balemian said OU also closed Bird Ice Arena last year but did not push the season back as much.
“We put a lot of time and effort into putting a team together, picking jerseys and going through that whole process,” Balemian said.
Balemian said he worries about what will happen to each team member's money if the rink does not reopen. Each team member has to pay $360 for a jersey, ice time and LUG merch.
“I hope we get refunds because that would be $360 down the drain that went to nothing,” Balemian said.
Balemian said he also hopes the school will give his team extra time on the ice once the arena reopens.
“(Hockey is) a great stress reliever for guys to just go and play after a stressful week and everything,” Balemian said. “We had a lot of guys looking forward to this.”
The closure has also impacted the hockey and synchronized skating teams' practices. The teams have been traveling to a rink in South Charleston, West Virginia, and the hockey team has also been practicing in Columbus. Both locations are about an hour-and-a-half drive from Athens.
Barry Schutte, the head coach of OU’s hockey team, said scheduling practices around class time has been difficult. To practice, the team sometimes leaves at 5 a.m. or returns at 2 a.m.
“It's three hours of driving for an hour practice, and then a little time in between and after to get dressed,” Schutte said. “It's a five-hour adventure just to practice.”
Schutte said he wishes the team could practice more, especially since it affects the team's performances, but understands it is impossible due to cost and lack of ice rinks in the surrounding area.
Grace Shah, the synchronized skating head coach, said the closure has also affected fundraising.
“We haven't been able to do our media day because we don't have the ice,” Shah said. “We can't take our photos and get our name out there more like we wanted to.”
According to Shah, the difficulties have affected the morale of the synchronized skating team.
“We have to keep begging (the skaters) to keep pushing through and hopefully telling them that the rink is going to open, even though we don't know for sure if it's gonna open,” Shah said.
Once the arena reopens, the hockey team plans to have mainly at-home games for its fans to enjoy, with other college teams already committing. The team plans to resume its regular practice schedule, as well.
The synchronized skating team also plans to resume its typical practice schedule and continue to compete. Shah said the team is hoping to compete at a competition Jan. 3, 2025.
“I'm very impressed with them being able to do this because some of them have never done this before,” Kendel said. “I'm just impressed that they're able to stay disciplined for something that they've never experienced before.”
