Chapman Hill Ice Rink in Durango is bursting at the seams in more ways than one, say residents who are advocating for the city to build new ice facilities.
Durango and Bayfield area hockey and figure skating devotees are combining their voices to request a new and improved ice rink – or rinks – to support the popular and growing ice sports scenes.
Parents, families and youths have attended recent Durango City Council meetings to make their case, which comes just as the city Parks and Recreation Department is beginning to review its master plan.
At the April 1 meeting, advocates made their requests after City Council recognized the Durango Area Youth Hockey Association 12U A team for its 30-4-5 record and first place victories in the 2024 Albuquerque OneHockey Tournament, winning the Western Colorado Hockey League Championship and Colorado Amateur Hockey Association 2025 State Championship.
Resident Ashleigh Tucker, who is leading the Durango Rink Project to get two new ice rinks built in Durango, said there isn’t enough ice or enough time to accommodate hockey and figure skating programs and public skate sessions.
High school hockey players hit the ice at 6 a.m. and 9:45 p.m., and adult hockey doesn’t start until 10:45 p.m., she said. There’s no room for programs to grow despite their popularity. Playing from 10:45 p.m. to midnight only to get up early for work the next day dissuades some adults from participating.
Tucker said between skaters and skiers, the Chapman Hill parking lot fills up quickly, and the Chapman Hill facility and rink are sustaining structural issues. And the rink was not built to facilitate year-round ice skating, which is particularly detrimental to figure skaters whose seasons are during the summer.
According to some residents and Chapman staff members, Chapman Hill is on a ticking clock, although Kelly Jaycox, assistant recreation director for the city, said the extent of issues is unclear and more assessments this summer will reveal whether the ice rink really is in its final days.
She said a slope on the ice rink was first noticed about 10 years ago. But after two structural surveys over the past few years, not much change has been detected between seasons, although ice crews say they’ve noticed worsening conditions this year.
Chapman Hill was built on top of natural springs and water flows under the rink. But whether that is causing the facility to slip or erode remains to be seen, she said.
Facility issues were identified in a 2022 Durango Parks and Recreation facilities report that said structural issues causing water to seep up through the floor and possible resettling “cannot be remedied.” Jaycox said at that time the assessment might sound graver than conditions really are and a water and soil study is necessary.
Durango Parks and Recreation is preparing to update its master plan and the rink closed earlier this month in preparation for the summer season, factors that partly contributed to why residents are speaking out now.
Tucker said the hockey and greater ice community can’t go from one rink to no rinks, and the time to advocate for a solution is now.
“I can’t imagine not having hockey to go play with my friends,” she said. “My kiddo is a super dedicated hockey player. He is 9 years old and loves the sport. He’s had a hockey stick in his hand since he was a baby, and he would be devastated if he didn’t have hockey.”
What would new ice rinks cost?
Durango Parks and Recreation Director Kelly Schmidt said the Durango area’s hockey and figure skating communities have shown great energy in their requests for new ice rinks.
She said early cost estimates for a new facility with two National Hockey League-sized ice rinks are in the $20 million to $35 million-plus range, which considers factors like land acquisition, construction, ice systems per rink, equipment such as Zamboni ice resurfacers, and other costs.
A cost breakdown shows construction would be the largest piece of the pie, costing between $8 million and $15 million. Steel frames, insulation, roofing, slabs, locker rooms and basic amenities are included in construction costs, with seating, second floors and possible architectural upgrades driving prices higher.
The rebuilt Chapman Hill Ice Rink opened in January 2002 as a result of “Chill the Hill,” a community-driven effort with city support, at an estimated cost of $626,500, according to project summaries provided by former Chapman Hill Improvement Association member Henry Dudley.
Dudley credited the late Stan Schler, who died in October 2022, with forming and leading the movement to build a proper ice rink at Chapman Hill.
Although the Durango Rink Project is still in its infancy, Tucker and other residents have already argued in public comments at City Council meetings that new ice rinks could have positive impacts to the economy. More ice allows more tournaments with more participating teams, which means more people traveling to Durango and spending their money in town.
Resident Jim Mackay, who helped found Durango youth hockey two decades ago and founded the Geezers and Breezers group for players ages 40 and up, said there are 450 kids enrolled in youth hockey, and adult hockey peaked in Durango several years ago at 36 teams. There are currently 26 adult teams with about 500 players. There are about 50 participants in the figure skating program.
“You can imagine with that many people that you start to make connections, you start to form a sense of community,” he said.
If DAYHA had the ability to hold proper youth and adult tournaments with two ice rinks, he said tournaments could draw between a dozen to 20 teams of about 15 players per team for weekend events.
New rinks could be funded privately, publicly or through a public-private partnership, he said. Those details still need to be worked out.
He said most of his friendships started through some sort of affiliation with the Chapman Hill Ice Rink.
Durango Area Youth Hockey Association Executive Hockey Director Lou Tocco said it’s easy for hockey players to make friends after moving to a new area. All one has to do is hit up the hockey scene.
He said despite that most of DAYHA's competitors have access to year-round ice rinks for training, the 10U B team and 12U A team won league championships this season, and the 12U A team went on to win the Colorado state championship. Last year, the varsity high school team won the state championship.
“Hockey is a lifelong sport. We have adults right now in their 70s that are still playing hockey at Chapman Hill,” he said. “… The commitment level for hockey and the dedication, it just teaches the kids responsibility, what it’s like to put the team first.”
Communication and working toward a common goal are all part of the game, he said. The sport demands a large commitment. But the result is more than winning games. Families traveling to events together over years form bonds and build community.
He said the camaraderie families and players develop is “magical.”
But hockey players aren’t the only ones who would benefit from new ice rinks.
Bayfield resident Carolyn Woods said her 17-year-old daughter, Tallinn Kook, competes in freestyle figure skating and teaches newcomers how to skate in the Learn to Skate program at Chapman Hill Ice Rink. But she is moving to Denver for more figure skating opportunities.
Kook described her skating style as “lyrical,” comparable to ballet, and she prefers skating to be “soft and floaty.” Last year, she competed to the song “Hallelujah” by Leonard Cohen.
She said it’s hard to put into words how much figure skating means to her, but that it’s a special sport. Two ice rinks would allow for more time on the ice to practice and improve and would make for less busy sessions, and more room on the ice would make for fewer collisions.
A standard National Hockey League ice rink is 200 feet long and 85 feet wide, but Chapman Hill Ice Rink is smaller, she said.
Woods said the older students’ greatest fear is colliding with one of the younger children, knocking them over and possibly cutting them with their skates.
Kook said she wants to continue competing in freestyle figure skating in Denver, and she wants to begin competing in doubles figure skating too.
Woods said she knows of another Durango area family that recently moved to Portland to access a year-round ice rink, and she’s heard “grumbling” from other families who are thinking of doing the same.
Jaycox said two ice rinks would be great assets for the community. A year-round rink would accommodate figure skating, which is most active in the summer.
“The question would be if two sheets in the summer would be fully utilized. But I think you can have enough camps and trainings … to keep them pretty full,” she said.
cburney@durangoherald.com
