Ice Zone vacates Boardman building, rink to be operated by new owners

BOARDMAN — Members of the Youngstown Phantoms youth hockey and figure skating organizations said they were surprised when they came to the Ice Zone today to find the rink’s ice slowly melting and equipment being removed from the premises.

“We didn’t know any of this was going on. It was a total surprise,” said Kaari Wentz, president of Youngstown Phantoms Figure Skating.

The Ice Zone is vacating the premises due to a change in building ownership that will be finalized Friday. Extreme Air, which operates a trampoline park that shares a building with the Ice Zone, is buying the building and will take over operation of the rink.

“We were under contract. They had an option to buy the building. They exercised the option. We thought they were going to lease us the ice, but they chose not to in the end,” said Bill Weimer, vice president & general counsel for B.J. Alan Co.. B.J. Alan is owned by Valley businessman Bruce Zoldan, who owns Phantom Fireworks and co-owns the Ice Zone.

“We wanted to lease to them. We wanted them to stay,” said Matt MacGregor, owner of Extreme Air. He said certain conditions the Ice Zone wanted in the lease were not tenable for his company.

Now, the owners of Extreme Air are attempting to work with the various organizations who use the rink to make sure no activities are disrupted. They plan to reopen the rink as the Deep Freeze Ice Arena on Monday.

For the complete story, read Thursday's Vindicator and Vindy.com