Kent State University announced on Friday that the KSU Ice Arena will be closed “until further notice” to all users – both within the University and the general public.

Kimberly Rufra, Associate Dean of Students, Recreation and Wellness Services, issued a statement saying the closure is part of the university’s strategy to stem the spread of COVID-19 on campus, throughout the larger Portage County community and in the Northeast Ohio region.

In addition to Kent State’s two ACHA teams, seven area high school hockey teams and 11 youth hockey organizations call the arena home. The Kent Cyclones have had their teams – from high school all the way down to mites – on the ice for a month and had their first games scheduled for Saturday.

Rob Durbin is vice president of the Cyclones organization, as well as the head coach of the high school team in the North Coast High School Hockey League.  He said the program found out about the closure the same way everybody else did when they saw the press release, but they will be able to keep their kids on the ice with the support of other facilities.

“We’ve reached out to other local resources and arenas and the ice hockey community has been great so far,” said Durbin.  “We’ve secured times to keep our season going for all age levels.”

Durbin said The Pond (Auburn Township), Thornton Park (Shaker Heights), Center Ice Sports Complex (North Canton), OBM Arena (Strongsville), Deep Freeze Ice Arena (Youngstown) and Alice Noble Arena (Wooster) have come through with ice slots on short notice.

“Unfortunately, we found out the same time everyone else did,” Durbin said.  “It was just as big of a surprise to us as an organization as it was to the Kent State Arena staff.”