Guest column: If City ‘repurposes’ Riverfront Ice Palace skaters will struggle for options

I’ve been a Spokane resident for just 7+ years and have glanced at the paper when I found it available. This summer, to encourage my boys (11 and 6) to read more, I accepted the invitation for The Spokesman-Review summer subscription package offered by the nice man at the downtown Spokane Rosauers store.

While my hope for the boys did not bear much fruit, I found your paper to be a good conduit for subscribers to learn about what is going on in our region.

Tuesday, the front page story about Skate City struck a chord. I wondered if the Spokesman ever provides coverage for the local youth hockey scene. My boys play amatuer hockey for the IEAHA Warhorses and their home ice is at Riverfront Park Ice Palace, which has ice from late October to the end of February.

The kids have traveled to Moses Lake, Tri Cities, Lewiston, Moscow, Missoula, Coeur d’Alene, and a few venues in British Columbia for a doubleheader or tournaments. Some teams come to the Ice Palace for games occasionally; sometimes a morning and evening game on the weekend.

I got my kids involved in youth hockey for several reasons. Aside from the benefits derived from the joy of zipping around the ice in the cold air, organized hockey gives them the chance to develop skills like sportsmanship, respect for authority, working as a team, and developing social skills. We were very lucky to land in the Warhorse team. My boys do not have any trouble getting up for the early morning practices with their friends. The friendships and memories will last long.

The Warhorses are facing a sobering prospect; this may be their last season at the Ice Palace. We’re told the City has made the decision to repurpose the space under the pavillion for some multi-use facility. That decision was apparently supported by an opinion that there is too much ice in Spokane. My research revealed the only other publicly-available ice in Spokane is at Eagles Ice-A-Rena. Nearby, there are hockey rinks in Cheney and Post Falls only. The proposal to construct an outdoor rink across from River Park Square that can be taken down during the summer will not support ice hockey. It will be a wonder if it will even be able to be open without a dedicated ice-making component and ice-grooming.

I don’t want to set the Spokesman against the City. I would like to give the City’s residents a chance to consider what it means to be Skate City with only one choice for public skating.