New Indoor Ice Rink Breaking Ground This Fall In Elk Grove Village: Developer

ELK GROVE VILLAGE, IL — A new indoor ice rink is slated to break ground on Meacham Road this fall. Nicholas Family of Companies announced Wednesday Elk Grove Ice Arena, an 86,261-square-foot, two-rink complex, will serve the local hockey community and feature a family-friendly restaurant with rooftop access called Hatty's Icehouse.

Slated to open in fall 2026, Elk Grove Ice Arena will be the fourth area ice rink owned by the Mount Prospect-based company. Nicholas is currently finishing a 100,000-square-foot project in Rosemont, which will open soon. They also acquired an ice rink in Vernon Hills this year and built the Mount Prospect Ice Arena at Nicholas Sportsplex in 2016.

"Hockey has seen incredible growth in recent years, and as a family deeply involved in the sport, we’ve felt the strain of limited rink availability — especially when kids are stuck practicing late at night," said Nick Papanicholas Jr., chief executive officer and managing director of the Nicholas Family of Companies. "This new facility is our way of helping meet that demand and creating more accessible opportunities for youth programs in the region."

A Staples office supply store currently occupies the Elk Grove location, but it will be torn down. Nicholaas said residents have expressed interest in seeing the property redeveloped for years, and the upcoming project is expected to serve local families.

According to Nicholas, all four venues are operated by the company's in-house sports and recreation division, Spectate Group, which plans to expand its staff to accommodate the new facilities. The company's construction arm, Nicholas & Associates, built all the venues except for Glacier Ice Arena (Vernon Hills), which was acquired rather than developed.

Nicholas said the Elk Grove Village facility will provide a "hat trick" of community benefits, including prime after-school, weekday evening and weekend morning ice time for youth hockey groups and ice skaters; post-10 p.m. nightly ice time for adult hockey leagues; and dedicated time for the Chicago Mission boys' hockey league practices and games.

With the ice rink located less than 10 miles west of O'Hare International Airport, the company expects to attract regional and national hockey tournaments.

Designed by architectural firm ARCON Associates, the new arena will have eight general team locker rooms and eight dedicated locker rooms for Chicago Mission teams. Other featured elements include: a viewing area with floor-to-ceiling glass windows overlooking both rinks; a second-floor restaurant with private dining space and a rooftop terrace; an elevated ground-level grab-and-go concept; study areas; a physical therapy clinic; and a gym. The arena also will have staff space and team amenities for the Chicago Mission hockey club, according to Nicholas.