How would you feel if you'd paid your money for a minor hockey program and then found out the arena the league uses has been placed in receivership?
That's what faces players and parents of the Ice Dawgs, a non-affiliated kids' league in London, Ont.
The privately owned twin-pad London Ice Park has gone into receivership with a threat of closing in November, leaving the Ice Dawgs and other programs, mostly men's leagues, without ice.
Local radio station AM980 has the story this morning, on air and on its website.
The Ice Dawgs have rented ice elsewhere, but parents will have to fundraise to pay for it after already shelling out for ice time at the London Ice Park.
Ice Park used to be heavily used by the Elgin-Middlesex Chiefs, a AAA minor hockey program. But a new arena has opened in the nearby Middlesex County community of Komoka and has become the home rink for the Chiefs.
London Ice Park has had a checkered past. It started as a curling club and is still referred to by many as Brookside arena. It features a huge restaurant/banquet area between the ice pads. But the changerooms are dark and damp and located in the basement. Players walk up stairs to reach the ice.
It's filled in over the years to provide ice time while city-owned arenas were being renovated, but hourly charges at London Ice Park were always higher than the tax-subsidized rates minor hockey received from the city.
This could be the end of the line for London Ice Park, unless a new owner with deep pockets is willing to reinvest and bring the place up to current standards.
That's what faces players and parents of the Ice Dawgs, a non-affiliated kids' league in London, Ont.
The privately owned twin-pad London Ice Park has gone into receivership with a threat of closing in November, leaving the Ice Dawgs and other programs, mostly men's leagues, without ice.
Local radio station AM980 has the story this morning, on air and on its website.
The Ice Dawgs have rented ice elsewhere, but parents will have to fundraise to pay for it after already shelling out for ice time at the London Ice Park.
Ice Park used to be heavily used by the Elgin-Middlesex Chiefs, a AAA minor hockey program. But a new arena has opened in the nearby Middlesex County community of Komoka and has become the home rink for the Chiefs.
London Ice Park has had a checkered past. It started as a curling club and is still referred to by many as Brookside arena. It features a huge restaurant/banquet area between the ice pads. But the changerooms are dark and damp and located in the basement. Players walk up stairs to reach the ice.
It's filled in over the years to provide ice time while city-owned arenas were being renovated, but hourly charges at London Ice Park were always higher than the tax-subsidized rates minor hockey received from the city.
This could be the end of the line for London Ice Park, unless a new owner with deep pockets is willing to reinvest and bring the place up to current standards.
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