Jan 17, 2018 5 min read

Notice: Undefined offset: 0 in /usr/web/cs-washington.ogdennews.com/wp-content/themes/News_Core_2023_WashCluster/includes/single/strategically_placed_photos_article.php on line 412

Notice: Trying to get property 'term_id' of non-object in /usr/web/cs-washington.ogdennews.com/wp-content/themes/News_Core_2023_WashCluster/includes/single/strategically_placed_photos_article.php on line 412

If you flip through the pages of the fall/winter program guide for Printscape Arena at Southpointe, you can find times for learning to ice skate, arranging a skating party, learning to play hockey – even if you’re middle-aged and you’ve “never ever” played the game before.

But as the new ownership of Printscape Arena says in its tagline, “We’re more than just ice.”

Operations director Zach Branovan agrees.

“We’re a turf and sports arena, too,” Branovan says of the 125,000 square-foot facility at 114 Southpointe Boulevard that recently transitioned to new ownership. “You can play nearly any sport you can think of in this facility.”

So soccer, lacrosse, kickball, flag football, volleyball and basketball are also available for youths, high school students and adults under the arena’s roof. And depending upon the season, there are instructional youth classes for baseball, softball, soccer and lacrosse.

Not a team player? You can get in a good workout in the Southpointe Fitness Center, and regardless of whether you’ve finished competing on a team or just achieved your personal best, you can relax with a burger and a beer.

According to Branovan, the facility also schedules a number of concerts and trade shows, and will see the return of MMA (mixed martial arts) Fighting matches this year.

Legacy venue

Southpointe’s legacy sports complex officially became Printscape Arena at Southpointe in November, as the 22-year-old venue also prepared to welcome a new restaurant by the end of 2017.

The changes occurred after a Maryland-based private equity firm in February purchased the financially troubled site originally known as the Iceoplex.

Those involved in the new incarnation of one of the business park’s early projects – it opened in 1995 – says the arena will continue its mission of providing a facility for hockey teams of all ages, as well as soccer, volleyball, lacrosse and other sports.

Murry Gunty, a principal with Blackstreet Capital Holdings of Chevy Chase, Md., says the private equity firm specializes in purchasing financially troubled businesses and turning them around. The firm’s Black Bear Sports Group division purchased the Iceoplex, one of several ice arenas it owns, as well as sites in Illinois, Maryland, New Jersey and New York.

The firm’s strategy is to buy ice arena properties in areas that are located in National Hockey League markets, “where there’s strong NHL fan support,” Gunty says. He noted that kind of support usually translates into children and adults using the arenas for in-house hockey leagues.

For many years, the Iceoplex was a practice facility for the Pittsburgh Penguins. Gunty notes that Black Bear also owns an arena in Maryland that was formerly a practice facility for the Washington Capitals.

Black Bear’s various properties collectively draw between 4 million and 5 million people a year, he says.

Branovan says Printscape expects to draw 800,000 a year from a 30-mile radius of Southpointe. Some of its adult hockey leagues draw people from as far away as eastern Ohio, he says.

The facility has some of the broadest demographics going for it. Learn-to-skate classes start for 4-year-olds and some adult hockey leagues have players as old as 69.

And even if you’ve always wanted to play hockey, but never have, the arena’s “Never Ever League” is designed for adults who receive off-ice instruction skills and instructional game time. The program is coed, non-checking and for people over 18 years of age. There are even rental equipment kits available for those testing out the sport.

Local angles stressed

John Dziak, owner of Printscape Imaging & Graphics, which is headquartered in Robinson Township but also has an office in Southpointe, says when he learned of the new ownership of the facility, he was considering becoming a sponsor, but was also told naming rights were available. He signed a multi-year agreement for the rights.

“We’re a local company,” Dziak says, noting that Printscape, which specializes in branding solutions for companies, has Southpointe tenants MedExpress and Mylan as clients, as well as Trek bicycles.

The local business angle also was expressed by Bubba Snider, co-owner of Bubba’s Gourmet Burghers and Beer, which was expected to open its third location by early January in the space formerly occupied by BLVD Pub and Kitchen.

Bubba’s Burghers, which is co-owned by Snider’s childhood friend, disabled U.S. Navy retiree Ed Kelly, also has locations in South Fayette Township and Triadelphia, W.Va. The restaurant specializes in using locally raised beef that is 100 percent fresh. The burgers are made with a blend of New York strip, rib-eye, sirloin and brisket.

“We’re a local business; we’re not a chain,” Snider says. He says the decision to open a unit in Printscape Arena “was a unique opportunity to be associated with a complex that operates 365 days a year.”

For more information on Printscape Arena at Southpointe, call 724-745-6666, or access its website at printscapearena.com.