2024 Hockey Day North Dakota canceled

Dec. 20—JAMESTOWN — For the second consecutive year, Hockey Day North Dakota will not be held in January 2024 because there is no place to hold the event.

"For Hockey Day North Dakota to be successful and for the sponsors to get the most out of their sponsorships, we needed to establish a more reliable location for the rink," said Jeff Romsdal, Hockey Day North Dakota organizer. "We've been displaced from our last couple locations, both on Allen Field and south of Wilson Arena in the old outdoor pool spot which is now a parking lot. We've been displaced from both of those locations, not able to hold the event in either of those spaces any longer. I feel strongly and several of us that have been on the Hockey Day North Dakota committee feel strongly that it would be in our best interest to try to put up the rink in a more permanent location."

On Oct. 13, Romsdal posted on the Hockey Day North Dakota Facebook page that the event was scheduled to take place on Saturday, Jan. 13. In a follow-up post on Dec. 11, Romsdal said the event was being pushed off for another year.

"It's frustrating because we feel very passionate about the event and want to host the event and there's lots of players, teams, coaches, fans that were really looking forward to seeing the event take place again," Romsdal said. "This is the second year in a row that we've struggled with location of the rink and that really drove us to really try to find a permanent location for the rink."

Romsdal said he and the rest of the Hockey Day North Dakota board met with the University of Jamestown to try to find a permanent solution but were turned down by the Jamestown Parks and Recreation Commission because they could not come to an agreement on clearing the ice and maintaining the ice surface.

The last Hockey Day North Dakota event happened in January 2022 in the parking lot next to John L. Wilson Arena. In the previous two iterations, it was played on Allen Field at the University of Jamestown.

In an attempt to bring the event back, Romsdal said he is willing to fork out the cash to build the rink permanently in McElroy Park. Romsdal said in his idea, the boards and glass would be permanent fixtures and could be used in all seasons with roller hockey potentially being played in the spring and summer. Romsdal estimated that it would cost between $300,000 to $350,000 to build the permanent rink at McElroy Park.

Romsdal said he went to the Jamestown Parks and Recreation Commission meeting on Nov. 13 with the belief that the rink would be approved by Dec. 1 but was told that the Jamestown and Parks and Recreation Department's legal counsel was not going to be able to return with an answer by the date. He said Dec. 1 was the last possible date construction could start while being confident it could get done by Jan. 13.

"December 1st was really a hard deadline to be able to get it all done so we could permanently put the rink up, put it in concrete and like I said the weather cooperated too, so we were really looking forward to making that happen and she just couldn't make it happen," Romsdal said.

After it became clear the even could not be held in McElroy Park, Romsdal then went back to the idea that the event could be held west of Eagles Arena but they decided to hold off and wait. Romsdal said Jamestown Parks and Recreation District Executive Director Amy Walters told him she is hoping to hear back from the district's attorneys by January.

Romsdal said the rink would be in honor of his father and be named the Romsdal Outdoor Rink at McElroy Park. He said he wants the event to be in Jamestown for the first three years before becoming a traveling event around the state and returning to Jamestown every other year.

"We have to build up within our nonprofit, so our nonprofit is set up to be able to return and continue to be able to grow Hockey Day North Dakota and host the event but also reinvest in the youth and the proceeds towards camps and teams and training aids and so forth as time goes on," Romsdal said. "So the first thing we need to do is have a place where we can constantly call as the home of Hockey Day North Dakota and it's a permanent spot that we can go to each year to host the event and that becomes part of the ability to sell the event with confidence."