Concerned Citizens Start Petition to Save Riverview Ice House

Here's something you might not know about me; my brother played hockey from the age he could put skates on through high school, so the greater part of my childhood was spent watching hockey games and practices at Riverview Ice House. One of my nephews is now a Rockford Hockey Club player, and I know that finding ice time has been, and still is, a bit of a problem in Rockford. The Stateline loves to play hockey and figure skate!

The other thing I know is that the Riverview Ice House needs a lot of work, so much work in fact that the Rockford Park District has said it will be cheaper to add another sheet of ice to Carlson Ice Arena than it will be to renovate Riverview.

With the teardown of Riverview Ice House being a very real possibility in 2021, a group of concerned Rockford-area skaters, hockey players and citizens have started a petition to save it. They have created a change.org petition and a website with the mission to "keep the future of downtown nice and chill".

The petition states;

We feel abandoned and betrayed by the Rockford Park District, which has announced recommendations to close the Riverview Ice House, sell the land for private development, and move all local ice operations to Loves Park – as well as threatening to end programming for downtown’s UW Health Sports Factory as a tournament destination.

 

The supporters of this Petition urge Park District Commissioners to maintain Riverview Ice House and maintain programming of the UW Health Sports Factory as a sports tourism destination. 
 
We further urge Park District Commissioners to direct Park District staff to Reconvene the Ice Facilities Committee, Engage the broader community and work toward a collaborative solution that saves Riverview Ice House and the U.W. Health Sports Factory as tourism destinations and supports the best interests of all stakeholders.

The petition also includes several reasons why the demolition of Riverview Ice House could be detrimental to this area, so it might be worth a read today.

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