Centre Ice Investment Assures: Red Wings Will Stay

Centre Ice Arena will spend nearly a quarter-million dollars to upgrade its facility in order to meet new National Hockey League (NHL) safety requirements and keep the Detroit Red Wings training camp and prospect tournament in Traverse City.

Centre Ice will renovate its two rinks on Chartwell Drive following a commitment from the Red Wings to host at least three more years of training camps and five more years of NHL prospect tournaments at the arena.

Centre Ice officials learned this fall about the NHL's new requirements for rinks hosting league teams, intended to reduce potential player and spectator injury risks. News of the required upgrades – which will cost Centre Ice $110,000 per rink in renovations, or $220,000 total – caught arena management off guard, raising the prospect the Red Wings might have to move their camps and tournaments to Little Caesars Arena in Detroit after 20 years in Traverse City.

“If you’re a rink that hosts any NHL players or teams, you have to comply with these safety mandates,” says Centre Ice Executive Director Terry Marchand. “When we found out what the cost was going to be, we were obviously surprised.”

Improvements to Centre Ice’s rinks will include replacing the current tempered glass with safer acrylic glass, building a cap rail system with built-in shock absorbers, adding curved glass at the players’ benches, and installing Kevlar safety netting to protect spectators.

In an effort to fund the costly renovations and avoid losing the Red Wings events, Traverse City Tourism will pay for a portion of the project. Traverse City Tourism President/CEO Trevor Tkach tells The Ticker the organization will cover renovations for one of the two rinks, or roughly half the overall project cost. Traverse City Tourism’s board voted to make the contribution out of the organization’s general fund as part of a commitment to developing a “year-round sustainable tourism plan for the area.”

“There’s more to it than just donating money here – this is an investment into the community,” says Tkach. “The Red Wings are part of the northern Michigan family at this point. Our reputation as Hockeytown North has a significant economic impact that helps all of us, especially in the shoulder season when school starts and tourism drops off. (The Red Wing events) benefit hoteliers, bars, golf courses, the airport…it’s a huge shot in the arm at a time of year when a lot of businesses are working hard to make those dollars.”

According to Marchand, several of the eight teams that participate in the annual September NHL prospect tournament are also contributing funds toward the renovation project. “They love it here in Traverse City and do not want to go anywhere else,” Marchand says. In addition to their commitment to return, the Red Wings have also pledged to help pay for the $20,000 in annual maintenance costs incurred by the new upgrades. That still leaves an estimated gap of one-third of the project’s budget – or more than $70,000 – Centre Ice needs to raise to cover renovations. Marchand says the arena will look to the community to help cover the gap.

“Centre Ice is committed to an ongoing fundraising effort to ensure that all the project’s expenses are covered and that the rink enhancements meet or exceed the NHL mandates,” he says. “We will be reaching out to area businesses and organizations and welcome their support.” Marchand says the arena has already been contacted by individuals looking to donate.

Centre Ice is in negotiations now with the only two U.S. companies authorized to perform the rink upgrades, according to Marchand. The arena will be closed for a few weeks May through early June during renovations, with the rinks ready for the Red Wings’ development camp next July and training camp and prospect tournament next September. The construction period “is our slowest time of year, when we typically take one of our rinks down anyway, so it works well with the rink conversion,” says Marchand.

When complete, the renovations will benefit not only the Red Wings and NHL players but Centre Ice’s stable of year-round leagues, programs and teams that utilize the ice rinks, says Marchand. “We’re doing this for the two weeks the NHL is here, but the great news is the other 50 weeks our own players are all going to benefit from the safety upgrades,” he says.

Marchand also expresses optimism the Red Wings will make a long-term commitment to Traverse City beyond the three and five-year timeline they’ve agreed to for their training camp and prospect tournament. “I really feel confident they’ll be here longer than that,” he says. 

Photo credit: Dave Reginek/Detroit Red Wings