Great News for Billings & MT Hockey Fans, Groundbreaking Soon

Get ready hockey fans, the groundbreaking for a new ice arena in Billings, Montana is coming up in just about two weeks.

Here's the details from our friends with the Bull Mountains Mine south of Roundup:

In case you missed the big news back in November, we told you about how Signal Peak Energy is donating $6 million to help build a new hockey arena in Billings, Montana. Signal Peak operates the Bull Mountains coal mine south of Roundup.

This is huge news for Billings, Montana and hockey fans all across the state.

I first got wind that something like this was in the works when I attended a rally for Montana coal in Roundup. Parker Phipps, the CEO of Signal Peak Energy which has the coal mine south of Roundup, was telling me how they were planning to donate millions of dollars to help build a hockey rink in Billings, Montana.

That'll be huge, I told him. Have you seen the hockey rink in Glasgow, Montana? People travel from all over the state to play hockey there. And that's small town Northeast Montana!

Phipps told me how a huge portion of their workforce lives in Yellowstone County, and investing in something like this is a great way to give back to the community.

The news became official back in November, according to a press release from the Yellowstone Ice Foundation. Here's more of what we shared last November.

Billings has taken the next step towards building a state-of-the-art ice arena. The new arena will be located at the Amend Park Recreation Campus (ARC) in south Billings. Through a City of Billings RFP, Yellowstone Ice Foundation, received the award to lease one of the newly established pad sites at ARC. Additionally, Signal Peak Energy came forward with $6 million dollars earlier this year to secure the project and allow Yellowstone Ice Foundation to pursue this location.

Signal Peak Energy CEO Parker Phipps: “We are proud to be the private sector partner with the resources to help move this project forward. We are excited to partner with the City of Billings, Billings Parks and Recreation, South Billings Urban Renewal District to be the first project at ARC.”

Sean Gilmore, President, Billings Amateur Hockey League Board of Directors: "The BAHL is excited for new ice, and we look forward to partnering with Yellowstone Ice Foundation to provide safe, fun, and educational opportunities for ice sports and getting our players and coaches on new ice as soon as possible."
For more information, please visit www.yellowstoneicefoundation.org.