By Zach Dooley – October 26, 2022
The LA Kings held a special ribbon-cutting ceremony earlier today at LA Kings Iceland at Paramount, for the grand re-opening of the facility. This past June, the LA Kings and American Sports Entertainment Company – ASEC- announced the purchase of the facility, the latest ice facility to fall under the Kings umbrella.
Kings President Luc Robitaille was on hand to cut the ribbon, along with representatives from the Kings, AEG and ASEC.
“I love the fact the community has supported LA Kings Iceland at Paramount for more than 80 years and we are honored to expand upon the mission set forth by Frank and Richard Zamboni,” Robitaille said. “ASEC and the Kings are committed to playing a key role in the next chapter of ice sport in Paramount, the neighboring cities and beyond, and growing the game of hockey throughout Southern California.”
Today’s unveiling included the first look at several changes promised when the purchase was originally announced over the summer. Upgrades to the venue include a lot of internal work with piping and insulation systems being revamped, as well as a new ice floor, new rubber flooring throughout the venue, upgrades to the dasherboards and internal sound system, as well as an external rebrand to reflect the new name of the facility MORE …
Per the Kings –
The single-sheet ice facility has been a mainstay in the Paramount community/greater surrounding area since 1940. The venue formerly known as Paramount Iceland however had only been open in recent years for private ice time due to COVID-19 restrictions.
LA Kings Iceland at Paramount is also home to the first Zamboni machine and part of the original purchase agreement included a new Zamboni museum be established in honor of the late Frank J. Zamboni, the inventor of the world’s first ice resurfacing machine. The museum includes Frank’s original Zamboni ice resurfacing machine (the Model A) as the highlight of that museum.
In addition, the historic facility will continue to feature its Wurlitzer organ – the only pipe organ currently playing regularly in any ice-skating arena in the country – which was first installed in 1941.
The facility is now open to the public after being closed for several months as part of a significant alteration-and-improvement project at a cost of approximately one million dollars. The following changes have occurred: Upgraded green energy heat transfer system for ice rink chilling; remove existing ice rink floor, remove perma-frost, install new sub-floor heat system and pipes, install new cold floor pipes and insulation; new dasher board system; new rubber flooring; upgraded sound system; and remodel and rebrand facility as LA Kings Iceland.