Wittenberg Ice Hockey at Chiller Springfield

Photo by Bill Lackey, Springfield News-Sun

About This Facility

The NTPRD Chiller opened in 2013 and gets its name from the owner, the National Trail Parks and Recreation District. Columbus, Ohio-based Chiller, LLC manages and operates the facility. The NTPRD Chiller has been the home of Wittenberg ice hockey club team since it opened, and it will host practices and games played by the ACHA men's and women's ice hockey teams introduced in 2025.

The facility itself features a 41,000 square feet ice arena, along with locker rooms, a rentable second floor mezzanine, and conference and meeting rooms. Rogers Inc. acted as the construction manager and was instrumental in its program development, design, and construction. Located around 8 minutes south of Wittenberg University, the NTPRD Chiller is conveniently situated near Springfield's revitalized downtown and the campus of Mercy Health Springfield, the city's largest hospital and medical facility.

Accessibility: The NTPRD Chiller is fully accessible to individuals with disabilities, and the Chiller staff is happy to make accommodations for interested patrons.

City of Springfield, NTPRD, and Chiller LLC

This facility was made possible due to the collaboration of the city of Springfield, NTPRD, and Chiller LLC. The project cost approximately $8.5 million to build.

The city of Springfield was one of the collaborators on this project by contributing about $3.2 million in public money toward the entire multi-project capital campaign. City leaders also loaned about $2.85 million to NTPRD to help bridge funding gaps created by construction delays and increased costs.

NTPRD was the driving force of the NTPRD Chiller project, as organization leaders initiated the concept and now own/manage the facility. NTPRD leaders funded the project by a mix of private and public donations through a capital campaign. The project got some award recognition as well, with NTPRD Chiller receiving first place for capital improvement projects over $2.5 million from the Ohio Parks and Recreation Association.

Chiller LLC was the last collaborator on the project after contributing about $500,000 in equipment and handling facility management and operations. Chiller LLC is owned by the majority owner of the NHL’s Columbus Blue Jackets, and the company has brought professional branding, expertise, and the “presence of a major sports team” to both Springfield and the NTPRD Chiller.

History

The construction of the NTPRD Chiller took a while to come to fruition. The NTPRD Chiller was the final component of a 13-year, $17 million capital improvement master plan unveiled by the National Trail Parks and Recreation Department in 2002. Other projects in the plan included Carleton Davidson Stadium, the city's municipal baseball stadium, which is home to the Wittenberg Tiger baseball team, and Splash Zone Family Aquatic Center.

There were many delays and many sites that the NTPRD Chiller went through. The first site was a property on West Main Street but was sold to a group of surgeons to build a surgical centerl in 2007. The second site was the former Memorial Hall site, which was also on West Main Street in December 2009. The building itself was demolished in 2010, but parts of its facade were saved to then incorporate it into the design. The final site was the former Haucke Complex site, which was a block south of the Memorial Hall location in September 2012.

Construction on the $8.5 million facility began in February 2013. The project was a collaboration between the City of Springfield, NTPRD, and Columbus-based Chiller LLC, which is a private company affiliated with the NHL’s Columbus Blue Jackets. Chiller LLC was contracted to manage the daily operations of the facility and contributed $500,000 in equipment like scoreboards and locker rooms. The NTPRD Chiller opened to the public in October of 2013 and provided Springfield with its first indoor ice-skating arena.

Written By: Marin Summers '27