On December 27,  Mayor of Morgantown Jenny Selin and members of the Morgantown Board of Parks and Recreation (BOPARC) made an abrupt decision to close the Morgantown Ice Arena for 18 months, beginning in March 2023. BOPARC reached this decision without seeking input from or meaningfully collaborating with any of the rink’s organized user groups or community members.  Their swift decision-making failed to provide any notice to the rink’s user groups, including: 

• Morgantown Hockey Association (MHA)
• Mason-Dixon Figure Skating Club (MDFSC)
• WVU Men’s and Women’s Hockey Clubs
• WVU Figure Skating Club
• Morgantown Curling Club
• Community members across the region who attend public skates and BOPARC ice activities. 

Please sign this petition in an effort to hold our elected officials accountable regarding this negligent decision to close the Morgantown Ice Arena for 18 months, beginning in March 2023.  By signing this petition you agree that the Mayor Jenny Selin, the Morgantown City Council and BOPARC owe it to the community to allow time for our ice recreation and sports community to plan and prepare for any closures involving upgrades and renovations, as set forth in the passage of the 2016 and 2018 Voter Excess Levy for Parks, Trails, and Recreational Programs. 

The lack of transparency and communication to organized user groups and members of the public who attend free skating activities at the Morgantown Ice Arena by Mayor Jenny Selin and BOPARC demonstrates a blatant disregard for all members of these groups and the community at large. Many members of the community and user groups have offered suggestions and solutions to prevent the Ice Arena from closing for 18 months.

Because Morgantown’s ice sports programs serve a region of athletes and park users that stretches far beyond city limits, the impact of a hasty closure and transition plan has ripple effects affecting access to ice, recreation, and youth sports across Northern and North Central Appalachia. Closing the ice rink for 18 months will impact athletes, residents, and businesses of the Morgantown community in the following ways:

1. The Morgantown Hockey Association will dissolve as we know it.  MHA is made up of over 260 boys and girls,  ages 4-18.  These children will no longer have the joy of playing what for many is the only team sport they love.  Those players who can afford the time and financial burden will be forced to attempt to join a league in Pittsburgh. The other youth athletes will simply quit playing hockey.  Neither option maintains community unity and resiliency, and this result reinforces the growing regional and income inequity in youth sports.
2. Predominantly female groups from West Virginia and north-central Appalachia who currently use the rink will be oppressed and forced to disband their clubs and teams. Approximately 50 female athletes will lose their sense of comradery on the ice competing in team sports they love. 
   Girls who make up the Morgantown Blades Girls travel hockey teams will no longer have a place to practice or host home games. In a league with only seven female programs, losing even one girls' hockey team is devastating to the growth of the women’s game. With this closure, two girls’ teams will no longer be in the Pittsburgh girls’ hockey landscape, meaning girls in the region will have fewer game-playing opportunities. Only those families who can afford the time and money to travel extensively will have the chance to play.   
3. Competitive Figure Skating in the region will lose its chance to build momentum. Approximately 25 members of the Mason-Dixon Figure Skating club will be left without a place to practice or compete. Certain members of the WVU Figure Skating Team will lose scholarships.  Additionally, some members will not be able to travel to another rink that is outside of Morgantown.
4. The only WVSSAC school-based hockey program for North Central West Virginia will be terminated, impacting the entire West Virginia Hockey League.  Currently, our Mohawk teams have players representing 14 area schools including University High School, Morgantown High School, Albert Gallatin Senior High (PA)  Fairmont Senior Trinity Christian, Mountaineer Middle, Suncrest Middle, Westwood Middle, South Middle, St. Francis Central Catholic School, Taylor County Middle, Albert Gallatin South Middle (PA), and the West Virginia Charter School.
5. Business brought into the City of Morgantown by patrons of the Ice Arena who eat in our local restaurants, go shopping, and stay overnight in Morgantown hotels will be lost.  Each week an estimated 1,000 people visit the Ice Arena to watch hockey or participate in public skating, curling, or community programs like Totsicles.  
6. An affordable physical recreation option for families during winter will be terminated. Currently, a family of four can spend 2 hours ice skating on a Sunday for $20.  Watching a movie in a theater, which offers no physical activity, cannot be purchased for less than $12 per person.  There are very few other indoor recreation opportunities for members of the Morgantown community that are affordable.   

If you love hockey, ice skating, or just want to hold the City of Morgantown and BOPARC accountable, please sign our petition.  This is a critical moment for ice sports in West Virginia, and proper local/state government support could have prevented it. Thank you for your support!