116 3rd St SE
Cedar Rapids, Iowa 52401
ImOn Ice Arena celebrates 25th anniversary of Cedar Rapids stadium opening
RoughRiders home recovers from pandemic, derecho
Jan. 12, 2025 6:00 am, Updated: Jan. 13, 2025 10:05 am
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CEDAR RAPIDS — When Cedar Rapids City Council approved a $6.7 million bond to construct a new ice arena in March 1999, the project got a relatively frosty public reception.
Parents had safety concerns about the nearby Lower Kingston field their children played sports in. Some objected to the cost, concerned that city bonds were a bad bet. Others thought it should be built in a different location, away from its planned Rockford Road SW spot.
“There has been nothing usual about this project,” then-Mayor Lee Clancy said of the way the project’s deal and construction plan came about to build the project without property tax revenues, though the project later received backing from hotel/motel taxes.
“It’s an absolute crown jewel.” — RoughRiders Coach Mark Carlson
At least one resident felt the project was moving too fast. Before the public-private partnership was completed and opened in January 2000, its overall cost would increase from $11.2 million to $12.6 million.
“It's one of those things that has been put on fast forward," Cedar Rapids resident Carol Martin told the council at the time.
This month, the ice arena hits a milestone. About 25 years after Cedar Rapids Finance Commissioner Ole Munson called it “one of the most creative public/private partnerships that has ever come about,” the Cedar Rapids ice arena seems to continue skating along.
If you go:
ImOn Ice Cedar Rapids invites the community to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the public ice arena during National Skate Month.
When: 1 to 4 p.m. Saturday
Where: ImOn Ice Cedar Rapids, 1100 Rockford Rd. SW
Details: Enjoy free public skate during the celebration with a DJ, cake and giveaways.
How it started
The idea was floated for nearly 10 years before the bond was approved. But it really took off in 1996, when SKATE Inc. (Supporting Kids and Their Environment) rallied to give $3 million to the project.
The coalition of skating enthusiasts recruited volunteers to study sites, raise funds and plan a skating operation for what would become a 4,000-seat arena with two ice sheets — one built with Olympic regulations, and one built to National Hockey League standards.
“It’s the slowest hurry we’ve ever had in our life,” said SKATE Inc. member Gloria Frost, thanking the Cedar Rapids City Council for its diligence as the project made headway in 1999.
It opened as the Cedar Rapids Ice Arena in January 2000 under operating company Polar Ice, who ran it under a 20-year lease and development agreement with the city. ImOn Communications has owned the naming rights since 2020.
William “Butch” Johnson, owner of the RoughRiders U.S. Hockey League team, put $1 million into a capital fund guaranteeing the city bond lent to Polar Ice. The team moved from Mason City to Cedar Rapids in the 1999-2000 season.
How it’s going today
Twenty-five years later, the ice arena is far from frozen in time.
The RoughRiders since have extended their lease through 2032, ensuring one of the biggest tenants in the stadium keeps Cedar Rapids as its home far into the future.
RoughRiders Coach Mark Carlson said the team was attracted by a supportive community, and stays for the same reason. The junior ice hockey league team consists of 25 players from across the world.
None of the players originally are from Iowa, but they’ve become comfortable calling Cedar Rapids home.
“Our players love it here. We feel it’s one of the best places in the world to play junior hockey,” Carlson said. “The arena itself is one of the top hockey arenas in the world. I’ve always felt very fortunate to have the facility we have — it’s an absolute crown jewel.”
But it’s not all about hockey. For General Manager Tonya Frost, a 10-year employee at the ice arena, it’s about the people.
“It’s nonstop, full of activity,” Frost said. “You build relationships with the families and the kids themselves.”
When she came on in 2014, her job as an event manager was to help rebuild engagement through programs like Learn to Skate.
“It was very small in 2014, but now we’ve grown it to 150 (skaters),” she said — rebuilding from a high of about 200 before the pandemic.
With public skate, hockey games, stick times, curling and much more programming, the arena has become an institution of recreation and skill building with many points of entry.
The RoughRiders Hockey Club for youth has grown to over 300 skaters and 70 coaches, and girls hockey continues to grow in popularity around Iowa. Girls tournaments have started to commence in Cedar Rapids over the last two seasons.
An organization of about 65 curlers offer others the chance to learn what it’s about, and the Eastern Iowa Figure Skating Club hosts three competitions each year in the arena.
Over its history, the arena has hosted several U.S. Figure Skating qualifying competitions. Olympian figure skater Timothy LeDuc, who got their start in Cedar Rapids at Learn to Skate in 2002 at age 12, became the first openly nonbinary U.S. Winter Olympian in 2022.
Like LeDuc, who was inspired by the 2002 Salt Lake City Olympics, new generations of skaters at the rink are born with each Olympic cycle, Frost said.
“We know people come in for RoughRiders games and say ‘Oh, what’s this?’ Then they come for public skate,” Frost said. “Every program piggybacks off each other. It’s kind of fun to see how that all builds.”
All in all, the arena continues to see about 200,000 attendees on and around the ice each year.
Rebuilding after the pandemic, derecho
The one-two punch dealt to Cedar Rapids with the pandemic and the August 2020 derecho forced ImOn Ice Arena to close for a full year, starting in March 2020.
The hurricane-force straight line wind gusts caused about $7 million in damage, tearing the arena’s west wall to shreds, destroying its roof and impacting numerous systems. The damage to the ice kept the RoughRiders from being able to participate in the 2020-2021 season, and the stadium didn’t fully reopen to the public until October 2021.
“In my tenure, that was the biggest hurdle, to get everything back up and running,” Frost said. “You had people who just quit skating, or they lost touch with this building.”
Now, just in time to celebrate 25 years, they’re back as big as ever.
Concerts and wedding receptions are now hosted in the building, along with other special events. Ice skaters have returned, and programs have bounced back.
“We’ve accomplished a lot in this four years,” Frost said. “We showed we came through that, and we’re ready to serve the community again for another 25 years.”
Comments: Features reporter Elijah Decious can be reached at (319) 398-8340 or elijah.decious@thegazette.com.
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