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Photography by Samantha Stevenson
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Photography by Samantha Stevenson
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Photography by Samantha Stevenson
Last weekend, a ribbon-cutting marked the opening of the Centene Community Ice Center, a new training facility for the St. Louis Blues. Next, the facility will allow free skate, starting September 20.
The St. Louis Blues, the City of Maryland Heights, and the Legacy Ice Foundation first announced the building of the Centene Community Ice Center last summer. Located at 750 Casino Center Drive in The Maryland Park Lake District, the 277,000-square-foot facility was completed in just a little over a year.
"This is going to be a real stimulus and really give a jump start to a longer-term development for the rest of the Lake District," says Craig Workman, a spokesperson for the Centene Community Ice Center, adding that the city envisions the area growing into "an entertainment, hospitality, sports, recreational kind of district."
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Renderings courtesy of Centene Community Ice Center
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Renderings courtesy of Centene Community Ice Center
The $83 million ice complex will seat up to 2,500 spectators and feature three indoor ice rinks named the USA, the Blues, (a nod to the Stanley Cup champs), and Plager (in honor of former hockey player Bob Plager). Outside, a fourth rink will double as a skating spot and multipurpose venue for concerts and other events, with seating for 4,200 people.
The complex will not only serve as the St. Louis Blues' official practice home (which at one time was the now nearly-vacant St. Louis Mills Mall) but also give host high school and college teams and leagues, and tournaments. A synthetic ice skills training room will be available to hockey players to practice as well.
In addition, the complex includes a restaurant and retail spaces selling hockey equipment, Blues merchandise, and more. On one side of the complex, Mercy Health will operate a sports medical clinic, which Workman says is will "condition young people to be in good shape as well [and offer] rehabilitation services
The ice rink is expected to bring in more than 1 million visitors, 16,000 hotel bookings, and make a $20 million economic impact on the region, each year. As part of a 30-year agreement with the City of Maryland Heights, the St. Louis Legacy Ice Foundation will manage the facility after completion.
Want to get out on the ice? Maryland Heights residents will receive a discount on public skating and how-to skating programs with proof of residency and a photo ID.
