Kalamazoo Ice Rink Wings West Reopening Under New Owners

Earlier this year, the hockey, skating, and curling community were hit with some devastating news as one of their beloved rinks was being shut down. Now, there were several factors that went into this decision including the condition of the building and sheets of ice. Either way, losing this ice rink would have a detrimental impact on youth, high school, and college ice sports in Kalamazoo County.

The Kalamazoo Event Center coming to downtown Kalamazoo will be the home of the Kalamazoo Wings and the Western Michigan University Broncos hockey team once it's built. This means the futures of both Lawson Ice Arena and Wings Event Center are up in the air. Wings West, which was once the home of youth and high school hockey in Southwest Michigan is going to be making a return.

Out of nowhere, Black Bear Sports Group, who owns dozens of ice rinks across the country, announced that one of their affiliates would be purchasing Wings West and they expect to reopen for the 2026-2027 season. There are still many unknowns and other steps to be made but they are focused on repairing the rink.

Who Is Buying Wings West?

WOODTV via MSN reports:

Black Bear said it will fix Wings West’s refrigeration equipment failure; support the rink “with full integration of its growth of the game initiatives, programs, leagues, tournaments, player ascension, events, on-line uniform and apparel stores;” and add Wings West to its streaming platform Black Bear TV.

This development opens the door for organizations like the Kalamazoo Curling Club to find a new home as they were forced out of their space at Wings Event Center which is slated for closure in 2028. For now, it seems like high school and youth ice sports in Southwest Michigan have been saved but only time will tell.