Detroit Red Wings and Partners Revamp Detroit’s Last Standing Ice Rink Ahead of Winter
The District Detroit’s NHL team and fellow community partners planned for the fall and winter seasons for the community this summer.
In August, the Detroit Red Wings and partners Labatt Blue and Fabiano Brothers Inc., committed to $15,000 investment to revamp Detroit’s last standing outdoor ice-skating facility, Clark Park. As part of the Hockeytown Cares platform, volunteers from each company, and others from the Detroit Tigers dedicated about 300 hours at the park.
Located in southwest Detroit, the rink has been around since the late 1800s and has stood the test of time as other rinks citywide have disappeared.
“The ice rink's been here, this is the third ice rink that's been put up in this place. They keep putting new ones up, but I remember coming here as a child and ice skating here and that was in the '60s. This is where I learned to skate,” said Anthony Benavides, the director of the Clark Park Coalition.” “This is the last surviving one. So that's why it's so special to keep this one alive and keep investing in it with people hours and funds. It's a very expensive piece of equipment to maintain and keep going. But we love it."
Open year-round, Clark Park provides opportunities for thousands of kids to play ice hockey, street hockey, baseball, softball and any other sport the kids might want to play.
Maintenance work includes painting; refurbishing the ice rink, playground and skates, and tending to the interior floors and cabinetry.
Labatt Blue said the partnership was especially fitting as a Canadian beer brand with deep hockey roots.
Benavides said having a small army of volunteers this summer was incredibly helpful for Clark Park in the upcoming months. “There’s only about eight of us that work here and we're always tending to other needs, so all this upkeep gets pushed back,” he said. "We're so glad that they're here to help us out. This will really get us ahead."
About The District Detroit
Home to the Detroit Tigers, the Detroit Red Wings, the Detroit Pistons and the Detroit Lions, The District Detroit is the epicenter of sports and entertainment in the heart of the city and includes seven incredible theaters. It is the densest concentration of the four major sports teams in any urban core in the country. It is a place with something for everyone fueling Detroit’s resurgence and attracting new investment in the city. Anchored by Comerica Park and the historic Fox Theatre, The District Detroit is home to the award-winning Little Caesars Arena, the Mike Ilitch School of Business at Wayne State University and the new Little Caesars world headquarters campus expansion. Little Caesars Arena features four shopping and dining establishments: Mike’s Pizza Bar, Sports & Social Detroit, Kid Rock’s Made in Detroit, District Market and Team Store—as well as office space for Google, 313 Presents and the Detroit Red Wings. New businesses coming to The District Detroit include Tin Roof Detroit, The M Den, Frita Batidos, Rush Bowls, Sahara Restaurant and Grill, Union Joints, Detroit Medical Center and Warner Norcross & Judd. The District Detroit has brought more than 20,000 construction and construction-related jobs and 3,000 permanent jobs for Detroiters and Michiganders to this area of the city, resulting in an estimated $2.1 billion in total economic impact.