The Delaware State Fair’s Centre Ice Rink is set to close May 17.
That will allow the current hockey season to finish, but once doors close, southern Delaware will no longer have an ice rink for various hockey teams and figure skaters.
The facility was built in 2002 and used as an ice rink in the off-season for nine and a half months per year.
Delaware State Fair general manager Danny Aguilar said the board voted to close the rink after the facilities experienced a significant mechanical failure and had several large pieces of equipment that also needed fixing.
That would add up to $1.5 million in maintenance fees over the next two years.
“Unfortunately, the board needed to make a decision to not continue the operations of the ice rink… This is the first time that we were faced with something more of a catastrophic type situation.”
The facility is used as an exhibition space for the rest of the year and will continue to be used as such going forward. The State Fair has not considered selling the property or looking to investors for help with the costs.
“As far as the structure of the Delaware State Fair, we’re nonprofit. And this building, facility serves other purposes,” Aguilar said. “So, one of the challenges that comes in with any type of investor or investor group would be we're not structured to take on investors.”
There is a petition posted on various Delaware Facebook groups to keep the rink open with more than 4 thousand signatures.
The State Fair has some educational materials for families looking for other options, which includes a rink in Easton, Maryland and the Patriot Ice Center in Newark.
Aguilar said the State Fair has reached out to the proposed Dover Civic Arena project as a potential option down the road.
