TUCSON, Ariz—- Tucson, with a population of more than 500,000 people, is home to a major research university with Division 1 college sports teams.  Minor league hockey team the Tucson Roadrunners also calls Tucson home. But the city has not had a year-round ice rink in operation since 2007. 

  A new development plans to rectify that situation beginning in 2027 when Mosaic Quarter Development debuts a multi-phase development called Mosaic Quarter that will include an ice rink, indoor sports facilities, restaurants and other retail establishments.

 Mosaic Quarter will be a sports and entertainment development utilized by residents for youth sports activities and visitors to its retail shopping. It will feature state-of-the-art venues for entertainment, recreational and collegiate sports, including ice hockey, basketball, volleyball and soccer.  It will be located near South Kino Parkway and Interstate 10 .

On Wednesday, November 20, 2024, Mosaic Quarter broke ground on phase one of the MQ Iceplex.  As the shovels hit the dirt at the ceremony, there was a roar of applause from the crowd and many felt the countless hours of planning had been worth it.  Mayor Regina Romero and University of Arizona Athletic Director Desireé Reed-Francois were among the attendees at the groundbreaking.

The event also included University of Arizona Women’s ice hockey team players and coaches, as well the Tucson Junior Roadrunners players, coaches and board members. They were all there to celebrate this significant milestone in a years-long effort to secure an ice rink for Tucson’s hockey players and others. 

Tucson has not had a dedicated year-round ice rink since 2007, when the last facility closed its doors. The Arizona Wildcats men’s and women’s ice hockey teams and the American Hockey League minor professional team, the Tucson Roadrunners, use the Tucson Arena to play and practice from early fall to early spring. When it is not being used by those teams, it is available for use by the public, including for youth and adult hockey leagues and public skating.

  However, Tucson Arena is not available year-round, and occasionally, events cause the ice to be removed for weeks at a time.

 Plans for a year-round ice rink have been discussed in Tucson for years but never came to fruition. But ongoing efforts from Tucson community leaders secured interest from an  investment group to develop the Mosaic Quarter. By March 2027, year-round ice hockey will finally be back, a testament to the power of perseverance and community spirit. 

  Pima County officials, including Deputy County Administrator Carmine Debonis, introduced the idea to Mosaic Quarter CEO Francis Knott Jr. in 2018. 

 “He engaged with residents, with associations, with businesses, with leadership out across the community,” Debonis said. “That really speaks to the quality of the approach that’s been taken here.”  

Debonis said he was impressed by this approach, because, in recent years, projects of this enormous scale have fallen apart. 

“They were trying to do something with a piece of land, which was not working, so they wanted to know if I wanted to meet them,” Knott said. 

Knott did have some competition for the rights to this project, but the City of Tucson ultimately selected his company’s submitted a bid and planning began. 

The ice facility was supposed to open in 2023; but the COVID-19 pandemic put the project on hold. This ice facility will have two ice sheets, used primarily for public skates, youth and adult hockey. The third sheet will be an arena-style rink that will seat 3,000 people where the University of Arizona men’s and women’s ice hockey teams can host home games.  Knott said he hopes the rinks will provide space for “everything from youth to AAA to juniors to the university and see what happens.” 

Besides the ice rinks, the project will have two additional phases, including development of the sportsplex, three hotels, four restaurants and more.  The project will have facilities for basketball, volleyball and indoor soccer.

Tucson Junior Roadrunners President Dave Honecker said he is overjoyed by the project because having this ice rink year-round will not only bring the community together but also help expand youth and adult ice hockey in Tucson. 

Currently, there are 230 junior players from  8 and under to the high school level, as well as 40 kids in the learn-to-play program. Honecker said the current lack of year-round ice makes player development difficult at the younger levels. 

“I want the kids to touch the ice three times every week,” he said. 

Former Tucson Jr. Roadrunner Ranon Plett is also excited to have a consistent ice schedule. Plett is currently pursuing his Ph.D. at the University of Arizona, but that doesn’t stop him from getting out on the ice.  He said he is happy to see the Junior r. Roadrunners program, attract more kids and devote more time to developing young players.

Plett is now a member of the Tucson Adult Hockey League (TAHL). While most adult hockey leagues in the U.S. have summer, fall, and winter seasons, Tucson’s league only has one combined fall/winter season because the ice is gone over the summer. Plett said he hopes the new rinks will not only meet the current demand but also expand the adult league, which currently has a waiting list and only rare openings for new teams. 

This potential for growth is a cause for optimism and excitement among the adult hockey community.

Danny Plattner is in charge of the Tucson Adult Hockey League. Originally from St. Louis, he moved to Tucson in 1997 to play ice hockey in the desert. The Tucson Adult Hockey League started in 2007, “then a year or two later, we grew to six teams,” he said. “Then we made eight teams and split them into two different divisions.” 

Now, the league is at twenty-two teams with three tiers. But Plattner said that it will take more work to expand the league.  

“We keep adding a few teams. It’s gonna be a challenge because we just don’t have the ice time,” he said. Before the Iceoplex opens, he hopes to expand the TAHL to 24 teams.

“I want to be able to play hockey for years to come,” he said. “My concern is, am I gonna physically still be able to play once the place is up and running?”

The Iceoplex project will be the cornerstone of Tucson ice hockey, helping to not only grow ice hockey in Southern Arizona but also give kids a chance to play. And local leaders hope it will also help boost the local economy by attracting sports tourism and creating job opportunities.

Arizona Sonoran News is a news service of the University of Arizona School of Journalism.