After closing in March for $4 million of renovations, the Oak Lawn Park District’s ice arena is scheduled to be back up and running by Jan. 14.

Visitors to arena at 9320 S. Kenton Ave., including hockey teams, figure skaters and those looking to rent skates, will notice a fresh ice surface, new dashboards, glass and perimeter netting.

“Being a part of the Park District, this is such a unique amenity to the community of Oak Lawn — we’re really happy to provide that,” marketing manager Justin Waters said Tuesday. “A lot of people have been asking and are excited about it, and we’re just trying to match that excitement when people come through the doors.”

The ice arena was originally planned to reopen in September, as part of larger scale park facilities improvements totaling $15 million. Upgrades of the community pavilion are complete while the Racquet, Fitness & Gymnastics Center will face a several week closure for construction this year.

Michael Sinkewich, general manager of the ice arena, said the ice rink and mechanical equipment, which were installed in 1994, are due for upgrades. While many renovations won’t be visible to the general public, such as switching out the ice rink base from a sand floor to a concrete floor, the Park District also worked to improve the overall atmosphere.

Sinkwich said the first thing people will notice will be a large graphic on the entrance window showing off Park District community partnerships.

“As soon as they walk up, they’ll see it and be like, OK, we know this is a nice arena,” Sinkwich said.

The ice arena is the home rink for St. Jude Elementary School and Brother Rice High School hockey players and local figure skating groups, Sinkwich said. Practices and open skates will resume as soon as the ice arena reopens.

Workers replaced all benches in the ice arena lobby and added graphics to columns. (Oak Lawn Park District)

The Park District will also add graphics on columns inside to thank the teams for their loyalty over the years.

“We wanted to make them feel like they were at home when they came in and feel like it’s a home ice advantage,” Sinkwich said. “We’re a community rink, part of a Park District, so our community feel feels really important to us.”

The Park District offers its own figure skate rentals and is adding hockey skate rental options as part of the upgrades. The arena’s front lobby was also opened up, as a barrier wall previously closed off the lobby from the front entrance, Sinkwich said.

Workers replace the Oak Lawn Park District ice arena’s ice surface Dec. 3, 2025. (Oak Lawn Park District)

“It’s a wide open space now, so it gives it a more open feeling,” he said.

The Park District replaced all of the lobby’s benches, desks and carpeting as well as bleachers and dash boards at the ice rink. Penalty boxes and the scorer’s table were moved to the opposite side to allow more more foot traffic near the lobby.

Sinkwich said he’s excited to see community members back at the ice arena “and have them experience a fresh sheet of ice and see all the new features that we added.”

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The last major renovations were in 2005, and replacing mechanics in the ice arena, community pavilion and Racquet, Fitness & Gymnastics Center were necessary to prevent potential emergency closures, Park District Executive Director Tom Hartwig told the Daily Southtown in April.

He said an architectural assessment discovered priority systems replacements and two community surveys showed residents wanted surface level improvements. The Park District secured $15 million budget in alternate revenue bonds to cover the entire project because the district settled all its long-term debt, including money borrowed to construct the facilities being updated.

Six parking lots have already been replaced, including at Stony Creek Golf Course, the Centennial Aquatic Center, the administrative building/central pool/ice arena, the northern portion of the ice arena lot, the community paviolion and the David Johnston Center.

ostevens@chicagotribune.com

https://www.chicagotribune.com/2026/01/07/oak-lawn-ice-arena-reopen-renovations/