The Frank Southern Ice Arena will not reopen this winter, according to a Monday news release from the Bloomington Parks and Recreation Department.
The city has tentative plans to reopen the rink, located on Henderson Street, in October. According to the release, it closed in November shortly after its seasonal opening due to concerns over the coronavirus pandemic.
In a typical year, the arena would have opened in October and remained open through early March. But with Monroe County in the orange advisory level on the Indiana COVID-19 Dashboard’s County Metrics map, group gathering sizes are still limited.
Julie Ramey, Community Relations Manager of Bloomington Parks and Recreation, said this restriction on gathering sizes means the arena is unable to operate many of its programs.
“The community has been through a lot in the past several months with facilities like the ice arena closing,” Ramey said. “Bowling alleys, skating rinks, movie theaters, laser tag. They were closed not frivolously and not without a great deal of consideration.”
The Bloomington Blades youth hockey program, the IU ice hockey team and the Bloomington Figure Skating Club are some of the organizations that usually use the arena to practice, Ramey said. They have not been able to skate there since the November closing.
“Protecting community health is of utmost importance,” Ramey said. “By keeping the arena closed, our intent is to keep the community safe, for it to not provide additional opportunities to spread a virus that is potentially deadly and spreads very easily through the air.”
