- Slug: Sports-Oceanside Renovation,800
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By ALLYSON CUMMINGS
Cronkite News
TEMPE – Nine months after the Arizona State hockey team announced its move to NCAA Division I, a $250,000 renovation of their home rink at Oceanside Ice Arena has been completed in time for its first varsity season.
Before the announcement the Sun Devils played in the American Collegiate Hockey Association (ACHA) at the club level.They played their home games at Oceanside, which is an independently owned rink located in Tempe.
Both Arizona State and Oceanside helped to cover the cost of the renovations. Arizona State paid for branding elements such as Adidas logos and other ASU-related signage, as well as upgrades to the locker room. Oceanside paid for several other features, including everything from infrared heating on the bleachers to new boards on the north side of the ice.
“Oceanside has a management staff that has always done a tremendous job and looked after the place very well,” ASU hockey coach Greg Powers said. “They felt they needed the upgrades to maintain a place that an NCAA team could practice at.”
The long-term plan for Arizona State is to move to or build a larger arena. The Sun Devils are playing two games and hosting a tournament at Gila River Arena in Glendale this season, including their home opener on Oct. 3 against rival Arizona. They will play 11 games at Oceanside in the upcoming season.
“These are renovations that this rink needs whether ASU is here or not,” said Adam Mims, executive director of Oceanside Ice Arena. “I mean we are 40 years old and so these are things that we need to do, these are things that benefit all of our customers for many years. So it’s definitely not a shortsighted deal.”
Oceanside is also home to two Division II ASU hockey teams that play in the ACHA, as well as their own junior Sun Devil teams. In terms of profit, Mims believes what Arizona State doesn’t buy in ice time others will.
ASU will add a women’s ACHA team in 2016, a part of the deal to move the men’s team to the Division I level.
“Since we only have one sheet of ice all that will mean is that the ACHA teams will have better game times, the women’s team will have more ice available to them, so revenue-wise we will be the same,” Mims said.
He also mentioned that Arizona State’s eventual departure from Oceanside is something the rink’s management team fully expects and endorses.
“We were certainly never under the impression that we were going to be their home rink for games,” Mims said. “An NCAA program deserves a proper arena and we want them to get that built right away.”
Beyond their current jobs, Powers and Mims are personally invested in helping ASU hockey. They both played for the maroon and gold in the past.
“(Powers) came to the team in 1995 and that was my last year. He was the stud new freshman goalie that pushed me right out,” Mims said, laughing.
“I’ve known Adam for a long time,” Powers said. “I think for about the first 10 years I was in Arizona he didn’t like me very much. He was a senior when I was a freshman and he had a disc issue in his back early in the year allowing me to start the first third of the season. By the time he was healthy I guess I was doing well enough he didn’t get his spot back.”
Powers said their relationship is strong now and they work well together. This benefitted the renovations over the summer-long project that Mims joked caused him to loose sleep.
“The most complicated aspect is anytime you are doing work inside of a rink and staying open, you have to consider ice conditions,” Mims said. “This isn’t a normal construction site where you can have doors open and where you can affect your inside ambient air temperature. That’s the biggest challenge, is we’ve got contractors in here who have never worked in an ice arena and they don’t understand that it makes all projects more difficult.”
The majority of the construction was completed in the summer. New bleachers were installed in September.
“Ninety-nine percent of the people are really positive about it. I’m sure it’s been slightly inconvenient this summer. We try to be as considerate as possible and keep the construction and renovation on a schedule that doesn’t interfere with too many people.”
The new seating allows for up to 750 people. Before the renovations Oceanside only accommodated 300. On top of that, the penalty box was located on the south side of the rink, which obstructed a large portion of the view for fans that looked through two sheets of glass. The penalty box has now moved to the north side.
“I am totally emotionally invested in this place,” said Mims, who is excited to see the team play its first varsity game at Oceanside against Southern New Hampshire on Oct. 23.
