Dear Reader:
It is hard to believe that nearly a decade ago the Hyde Park Ice Arena in Niagara Falls, NY was literally at death’s doorstep. It was an ice arena with no future except maybe for a wrecking ball.
The two ice pads had a dull and drab appearance to them. The locker rooms were outdated and smelled. The place was falling apart.
But then along came Gene and Michael Carella, the owners and operators of Niagara Sports Tournament. Thanks to the efforts of Gene, who worked with city officials, Hyde Park Ice Arena has received a total makeover.
Gene is the CEO of the corporation, while Michael is the day-to-day operator. Together Niagara Sports Tournament is the primary operator of the Hyde Park Ice Pavilion.
Hyde Park Ice Arena has become a destination point for youth hockey teams from across the Northeast including New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio, the New England area, as well as Canada.
“We’ve come a long way over the past couple of years,” said Gene. “The only thing missing right now is that within the next couple of years the city is going to do some final work on the outside of the building and put a new ‘skin’ on it.
“There will be a new drive-up area out front so it will be easier and safer to drop kids off with. They may even do a little work on the roof.”
But it is the interior of the building that is now the big selling point for teams and organizations wanting to rent ice time.
“The inside is almost done,” continued Gene. “Right now we’re lobbying for new, high tech controls for the compressor room.”
What makes this makeover so amazing is the fact that Carella had to work with a city government that had the reputation of sometimes being very hard to work with.
“We couldn’t have done hardly any of this if it weren’t for the effort of Dave Kinney (Niagara Falls Public Works Director),” stated Gene. “He was the guy who helped set up a lot of the meetings with other city officials and myself.
“In the end all of the people I dealt with were all on the same page and wanted to do a nice job for the City of Niagara Falls. The first one was Mayor Paul Dyster, who was behind us right from the beginning.
“Then there was the Corporation Council who forged an interesting agreement for the ice arena. And finally there was Dave Kinney, who brought both sides together throughout the entire process.”
Gene’s son, Michael, admits that when he got involved with this a couple of years ago his vision was exactly 20/20.
“When we saw what the architects had designed it looked great on paper,” remarked Michael. “But until you saw the end results in front of you, you had your doubts.
“But in the end it all turned out great. There is a lot of new in this building and it is all for the good.”
The Carella’s admit that the reaction from visiting teams has been very positive.
“We’ve had teams that came in here, who haven’t been here in five years, and were blown away,” added Michael. “They see the two rinks with new lights and seating and then go to the locker rooms and can’t believe that they are in the same building they were five years ago.”
An additional attraction to the arena is “JR’s Stone Room,” a restaurant/bar that is housed within the building. Wings and pizza are the big items served up.
Just how close was the Hyde Park Ice Arena to being torn down?
“I think about 10 years ago the city was at a crossroad,” stated Gene. “They only had two options.
“One was to make improvements or two would have been to close the building a tear it down. Obviously I think they made the right decision in doing a complete makeover on the building.
“I have to give a lot of credit to the Niagara Falls City officials. They did it right.”
Until Next Time,
Randy Schultz
