Penn State’s future arena that will house the new men’s and women’s Division I programs will be named Pegula Ice Arena, after donors Terrence and Kim Pegula.
The Pegulas’ $88 million gift, the largest private gift in Penn State’s history, will fund the arena as well as help to establish the men’s hockey program.
“We remain involved as Penn State moves through the planning process for the ice arena,” Terrence Pegula said in a statement. “We can’t wait for the puck to drop on opening night in the new arena. Kim and I will take great pride in the arena bearing our family’s name, and are happy that our gift is enabling athletics to bring Division I hockey to Penn State, and producing a venue that will allow hockey to grow further in the central Pennsylvania region.”
The arena is slated to open in late 2013. It will include two ice sheets and other features that will allow it to be used for a broad range of campus and community activities, from commencement ceremonies to kinesiology classes to public skating sessions and camps for youth.
The facility will also provide new training and performance opportunities for Penn State’s figure skating club and for the university’s women’s hockey team, which will transition from club to varsity status. The arena also will offer ice time to recreational and high school hockey programs, as well as intramural and local speed skating and broomball clubs. The arena will be able to host events such as professional ice shows and National Hockey League and American Hockey League exhibition games, generating tourism and other economic impacts in the region.
