Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties
Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties
By TOM LAVENTURE
Ironwood — A grand opening for the Pat O’Donnell Civic Center is within sight now that the city has received a temporary occupancy permit to assume control of the facility.
The city of Ironwood has received a temporary occupancy permit for the civic center recently, according to city manager Scott Erickson. The contractors, subcontractors and even civic center board members and volunteers have completed a final list of 240 work items that were required before occupancy could be transferred, according to reports at the June board meeting.
The civic center Facebook page announced on July 9 that a grand opening would be coming soon. There is also the possibility of summer in-line skating on the rink floor before it is flooded and frozen in preparation for the winter season.
“I’m thinking the end of the month,” said Michelle Rigoni-Sivula, civic center manager, regarding an open house and roller skating. She cautioned against providing a precise date as there is still the potential for delays that are outside of their control.
For the past two months Rigoni-Sivula has been working daily on everything from cleaning and putting together furniture to developing the new management guidelines and fee structures for a venue that will offer more possibilities than the original building that was replaced after a winter roof collapse in March 2019.
Along with some volunteers, Rigoni-Sivula assembled dozens of chairs and tables that arrived on pallets. She is especially pleased with the upper level observation lounge where guests can watch the action on the rink from the comfort of a heated room behind large plexiglass windows.
“We have our upstairs completely furnished,” Rigoni-Sivula said.
The delays to the completion date were frustrating, she said. But she focused on the work list items and brought in the right people to deal with the mysteries of alarms going off on their own, phones not working yet, and the occasional leak.
The final items included a special fabric to seal the area between the arena plexiglass and the wall to act as insulation to the lobby and concessions area. The fabric was designed by Jacquart Fabric Products and the company performed the installation at no cost.
There were delays to the completion of the hockey team boxes and the rink floor needed painting. Some of the concessions items including freezers and a stove are delayed because of pandemic related back orders and a jukebox is on the way.
“That’s hopefully within the next few weeks, which wouldn’t hinder us opening, for I’d like to do some inline skating,” Rigoni-Sivula said. “I’m probably gonna be laying ice in August because of the fact we have some out of state people coming in to rent the ice for their hockey training.”
There are items that carried over from the former arena but there is new technology that will vastly improve the player and the spectator experience, she said. The updates include air circulation, lighting, sound and better use of space.
The locker rooms are updated and there are coaches and officials rooms as well. There is now a large lobby with large windows looking up to Mt. Zion and a full concessions area.
The new amenities will allow the facility to serve as a venue for many types of events all year, she said. There are smaller rooms to rent or the entire facility, allowing for a small meeting to a large conference or reunion.
Rigoni-Sivula said there will be a hall of fame but the location is still being decided. There are new banners for the area teams and past championships to replace the yellowed older banners.
One other highlight is an elevator that will help people in wheelchairs or who have trouble with stairs to get from the arena floor to the spectator area of the rink, she said. This will allow people to watch the games who perhaps were not able to in the past.
The grand opening will likely be an open house event where people can come in and tour the facility, according to a previous meeting. The date and times will be announced soon.
