A planned ice skating arena in Boca Raton is moving forward with help from a $14 million construction loan.
Boca Ice and Fine Arts Center, led by partners Jake Dinov, Hal Jacovitz and Mitch Robbins, will be built on 4.7 acres at 900 Peninsula Corporate Circle.
The 74,210-square-foot facility will have two National Hockey League-sized ice sheets, a skylounge, mezzanine floor, running track, and private training and locker rooms, according to Dinov. There will be 165 parking spots and patrons can use another 265 parking spots at an adjacent property on weekends. It also will have a store with hockey and figure skating gear.
Boca Ice and Fine Arts Center partner Jake Dinov
Navy Federal Credit Union issued the loan in conjunction with Florida First Capital Finance Corporation and the SBA 504 program.
Dinov, Jacovitz and Robbins, partners in Boca Ice and Fine Arts, bought the site for $3.75 million in 2019, according to Dinov.
The project is expected to open in mid-2022.
Other ice rinks in Palm Beach County include Palm Beach Skate Zone at 8125 Lake Worth Road in Lake Worth Beach, and Palm Beach Ice Works at 1590 North Florida Mango Road in West Palm Beach.
Boca Ice and Fine Arts will offer a closer alternative for students and university teams in the southern part of the county, Dinov said. Teams from Lynn University and Florida Atlantic University, local middle and high schools, and South Florida Hockey Academy will be able to practice and play tournaments at Boca Ice, he added.
Rendering of Boca Ice and Fine Arts Center courtesy of Peninsula Ice LLC
“Instead of having to travel 20 or 30 miles to the closest facility, which made it impossible for school kids, we now have something close right off the Interstate 95, off the ramp,” Dinov said.
South Florida also is home to the BB&T Center, a home arena for NHL’s Florida Panthers, near Sawgrass Mills mall in Sunrise. Also, the Glacier Ice and Snow Arena in Pompano Beach was built in 1981 and sold for $5 million in 2016.