Spokane Valley ice rink plans expanded as donor named

More locker rooms, more seats and more parking are among the changes to a proposal announced last year to build an ice sports facility in Spokane Valley .

The facility is now envisioned as an 80,000 -square -foot winter draw for the region’s skating community. It would have two ice sheets, 507 seats, 409 parking stalls and 12 locker rooms to accommodate teams during tournaments.

It would be built on 11 acres north of the Spokane River off Sullivan Road by Garco Construction in partnership with the Innovia Foundation and Bill Lawson, who is helping finance the project with a $25 million donation, Innovia CEO Shelly O’Quinn said in an interview Friday.

The goal is to have the facility open by June 2027.

Lawson’s donation through Innovia will create a separate nonprofit with a board of directors that will operate and maintain the ice rink once it is built. Lawson and O’Quinn will both be board members.

The project will include some commercial development, perhaps a restaurant or coffee stand, said Spokane Valley City Manager John Hohman. An earlier plan to build a hotel at the site has been abandoned. The nonprofit will handle leases with commercial businesses on the site with profits reinvested in the ice facility.

“This is going to be a self-sufficient project,” Hohman said.

Lawson was born and raised in Spokane Valley and is the owner and president of A&A Construction & Development Inc. Lawson has developed apartments, hotels and other projects in the Northwest.

“He doesn’t want this story to be about him,” O’Quinn said of Lawson’s reluctance to be interviewed about his part in financing the ice rink project. “It’s really about the kids. This is about the thousands of kids that don’t have access to ice sports today.”

Ashley Blake, CEO of Spokane Sports, said Lawson stepped forward in an act of goodwill.

“This facility is a great example of an individual identifying that there’s a need in our marketplace and the great thing about our community is that we’re so focused on working together, collaborating and advancing this,” Blake said.

This project is meant to provide ice for kids in the region because ice time is hard to come by in the area, O’Quinn said.

“We are in need of ice time and availability to support the demand in the region,” O’Quinn said.

O’Quinn said Lawson’s children were unable to participate in ice sports because of the lack of availability. He has grandkids who play hockey but often go to Canada in part because of the lack of rinks in the Inland Northwest.

“He said every weekend or every other weekend they’re across the border,” Hohman said.

The nearest Spokane County rink is the Eagles Ice Arena in Spokane. Hohman said the facility would be used by hockey players in the Spokane Americans Youth Hockey Association, which serves 450 children, and the Spokane Chiefs hockey team.

The city currently owns and will continue to own the land the ice rink is set to be built on.

“We’re not paying for it, we’re not operating it, we just need to do the infrastructure and then get out of the way,” Spokane Valley Mayor Laura Padden said.

Hohman said that the city is keeping the land, which will lower the cost to help get the ice rink built on schedule. The city began pursuing the land for purchase in 2019 and bought it in January 2025, initially intending for the land to be used for a park adjacent to Sullivan Park, Hohman said.

Those plans changed when the ice rink proposal came into focus.

“Ice availability is a public benefit, so that’s the primary reason why we would look at leasing this property to the donor and to the nonprofit that’s going to own and operate it, because it increases accessibility,” Hohman said.

The city council also has hopes to make Spokane Valley a hub for youth sports because it is central to the region, Hohman said. The city is providing a discounted land lease and infrastructure such as water, sewer and road access to make the ice rink possible.

“Nobody does this. Nobody writes a check like this,” Hohman said of Lawson’s donation.

The cost to the city is estimated to be about $3.1 million, of which two-thirds would be supplied through lodging tax collection from the Valley, Hohman said. Waterline construction already underway to serve Sullivan Park would also support the ice facility. The project will require the construction of a sewer lift station, and the city also will build an access road. Avista will be working to provide gas and electricity connections.

Spokane Valley would have a $9.4 million purchase option or could halt the project at any time, Hohman said.

O’Quinn said Innovia would welcome more contributions to boost the ice development.

“Whether is a $25 donation or a $5 million check it can all become part of the project,” she said.