Atlantic City’s Skate Zone may shut down in March

ATLANTIC CITY — Parents and skaters are trying to keep the Skate Zone from closing and would like the city to buy it.

The Bader Field field facility was built by the Philadelphia Flyers and Comcast and was owned by CRDA in the late 1990s. Black Bear Sports Group took over operation in September 2020.

The NHL-sized rink is used by the Stockton University men’s hockey team, the Atlantic City figure skating club, Mainland and Egg Harbor Township high school teams, a men’s league, and the Atlantic youth hockey program. City Sharks.

97.3 ESPN South Jersey reports that the Black Bear would like to sign a long-term lease for repairs and renovations to the 23-year facility, but the CRDA will offer no more than a year-to-year lease.

“We regret to inform you that Atlantic City Skate Zone LLC has not been offered the opportunity to renew a long-term lease with the Casino Reinvestment Development Authority, which owns the Skate Zone building,” General Manager Jared Siganuk said in a statement. a statement to 97.3 ESPN South Jersey.

“As a result, we will vacate the runway on March 7, 2022, and to the best of our knowledge, it will be closed at that time.”

Long-Term Lease vs. Short-Term Lease

Skate Zone operations manager Steve Bergeron told the Press of Atlantic City that approximately $300,000 is needed to make the repairs. The biggest repair needed is the one thing that makes everything else possible: the machine that makes the ice. It leaks freon and its legs have corroded to the point of possible collapse.

The Sharks program has an online petition hoping the CRDA will agree to a longer lease or the city will step in. If the rink were to close, the petition says the nearest rink is an hour away.

Siganuk and the CRDA on Wednesday afternoon did not respond to New Jersey 101.5’s request for more information.

Contact reporter Dan Alexander at Dan.Alexander@townsquaremedia.com or via Twitter @DanAlexanderNJ