TEMPE — Hundreds of people gathered at Oceanside Ice Arena in Tempe Sunday to bid it farewell.
“I’m slightly blown away by how many people have showed up today,” said rink General Manager Adam Mims. “I’m really happy about it.”
The business will be closing after its owners sold the rink and neighboring Big Surf Wave Park to a California developer for $49.97 million. Big Surf Wave Park was demolished last year. Oceanside will be next.
“It was time to go. Nothing we could do about it,” Mims said.
Sunday the rink held a goodbye skate, a final chance for people to take the ice.
Figure skater Jennifer Hague learned to skate here in 2000.
“Today it’s like filled with people, there’s music. Everybody’s happy. That’s exactly what it was like when I first came here the first time," she said.
Joe Turso has skated at Oceanside for a decade. He was on the ice with his son Wyatt Sunday.
“It’s special to spend it with him too, it’s a generational thing,” Turso said. “You look at how long this rink has been standing here and how many lives it’s touched and how many people skated here, it’s just a special part of the community.”
13-year-old Xander Koontz skated around the ice Sunday. His mom worked at the rink and first brought Xander when he was an infant. Eventually, Xander would man the snack bar during games.
“It’s been kind of sad to see that everything has to go,” Koontz said.
Everything left at the rink is being auctioned off. Signs, scoreboards and even the Zambonis going to the highest bidder when the auction closes on Monday.
Outside the rink on Sunday afternoon, there was food, music and storytelling. It was one final tailgate around the grill that held 49 years' worth of memories.
“That’s what you remember,” Gary Stocker said. “The games are fun. Hockey is the greatest sport ever and it's fun but just hanging out with everybody after the games, that’s what it’s about.”
