Columnist Dean Juipe: Skaters will feel impact of closure

Dean Juipe

Tuesday, Dec. 30, 2003 | 9:45 a.m.

Dean Juipe's column appears Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday. His boxing notebook appears Thursday. Reach him at juipe@lasvegassun.com or (702) 259-4084.

There are signs of neglect, as if the facility was actually older than it is. But upkeep hasn't been much of a priority at the ice rink within the Santa Fe Station casino in North Las Vegas, nor will it be now that its days are numbered.

It was only a decade ago that the rink was new and teeming with activity. It housed not only a lively crowd for its open skating hours, but it attracted a number of hockey-mad fans and teams of varying ages that were dying for ice time.

In its brief heyday the stands that run parallel to the length of the ice on both sides of the rink would be full for games involving the Las Vegas Aces. Crowds of up to 1,800 were not uncommon for the semi-pro games that featured players from assorted West Coast cities who poured cement and laid bricks during their workweeks and delighted in firing pucks and trading fists in front of appreciative audiences on the weekends.

The Aces lasted two seasons, shutting down in 1994 and giving way to a Junior B team of the same name that was formed not only to develop young players but with the hope that UNLV would shortly thereafter form a club team.

But today those best-laid plans are but a footnote to the rink's history, the Aces having disappeared and UNLV having given the sport of hockey a cold shoulder.

These days the Santa Fe still has its hockey connections -- something called the Las Vegas Hockey League has its standings posted and an adult Tuesday night league's schedule hangs from a wall -- but the lines on the ice are barely visible as the arena and its tenants wind down.

Station Casinos announced earlier this month that it would eliminate the ice rink at the Santa Fe in the very near future and replace it with additional casino and movie-theater space and bowling amenities. The low-profile changes don't even rate a mention on a bulletin board that supposedly offers "Ice Arena News & Schedules" that is hanging near a walkway at center ice.

But in this case no news is not exactly good news. They may not want to advertise it at the rink, but it's about to close.

It's a baffling decision in a way, given that Station simultaneously said it is considering putting in a rink at its nearby Fiesta casino just down the road on Rancho. But why would it invest an estimated $10 million to build a rink at the Fiesta when it already has a functional one at the Santa Fe?

My skeptical nature has me thinking Station might just be blowing smoke, and I'll believe there's a new rink coming at the Fiesta once they start to build it.

However indifferent the Santa Fe has been toward its ice fanatics, there is a market for skating and hockey that is in danger of not being met in the valley. Las Vegas has only two other existing rinks, one at the Las Vegas Sportspark on Rampart and one at the Cystal Palace Skating Center on W. Flamingo. A third rink, in the Commercial Center on E. Sahara, has been closed for some time.

Skaters and hockey players across the country are accustomed with having to make do under less than ideal conditions. It sort of comes with the territory of enjoying a so-called minor sport such as figure skating or hockey.

But losing the Santa Fe rink is a particularly devastating blow, especially when the primary purpose is to install more video poker machines. There are plenty of those around town, but ice is in short supply.