Harry J. McDonald Memorial Center Facility History

This article was originally published in the July/August 1999 issue of ISI-Edge magazine.

The Harry J. McDonald Memorial Center is a $4.8 million, 38,000-square-foot, 700-seat facility that houses an Olympic-size ice sheet, a community meeting room and a walking/jogging track that runs around the perimeter of the rink. Built in 1984, the McDonald Center, or "The Mac" as it is affectionately called by locals, is celebrating its 15th anniversary.

The McDonald Center is the only indoor rink in the community of Chugiak/Eagle River, an area serving a population of approximately 35,000 people. The facility has served over 825,000 users during its 15 year history, not including spectators. The facility is owned by the Municipality of Anchorage and is managed by a private non-profit management company formed to run the facility. The corporation, Fire Lake Arena Management, Inc., consists of five volunteer board members who live or work in the community.

In the early 1980s the community of Chugiak/Eagle River addressed the need for a recreation center in Eagle River. Before the Center was built in 1984, people who wanted to skate on indoor ice had to drive 15 miles to Anchorage.

What makes the McDonald Center unique is the sense of community. The management philosophy always has been and always will be to operate and maintain the facility in a manner consistent with the needs and interests of the Chugiak/Eagle River community. "The rink is really a community oriented facility," states Reid McDonald.

The rink is home to an assortment of ice related activities, including figure skating, hockey, leisure skating and speed skating. The rink also offers an ISI Learn To Skate program with about 100 kids and adults per month taking lessons.

Meeting the community's needs requires a careful balance between several user groups including: figure skating/freestyle sessions; Learn To Skate lessons; leisure skating; shinney hockey; minor and high school hockey games and practices; speed skating; special requests by community groups and organizations for private parties; and various clinics for hockey, figure skating, and speed skating. The challenging task of scheduling ice time and successfully meeting all user needs becomes even more difficult with only one sheet of ice available. "Ice time is at a premium and successfully satisfying all user groups is difficult, if not impossible," explains McDonald.

During the winter months the ice is typically booked from 6:00 a.m. to midnight, seven days a week. During the summer months the rink operates from about 7:00 a.m. until 10:00 p.m. Monday through Friday. With the rapid growth of the Chugiak/Eagle River area in the last 10 years, the skating community is in desperate need of a second sheet of ice.

Expansion of the McDonald Center has been up for bond and narrowly voted down twice in the last four years. Management at the McDonald Center hopes that the third time will be the charm. Included in the approved master plan is a second sheet of ice with an elevated track, a gymnasium, racquet ball court, weight room, dance studio, teen center, and a 3,000-square-foot community room with a full-service kitchen. "It would make the facility a true recreation center," says McDonald.

Although skating is the predominate activity at the McDonald Center, the jogging track serves 12,000 users annually. "There are many people, including a number of seniors, who use the track as their primary form of exercise year round," says McDonald.

The McDonald Center is known as a very well kept facility. "I feel that the public deserves a clean and safe facility," states McDonald. Keeping the facility clean is not an easy task given the fact that the facility is open to the public from 6:00 a.m. until midnight, seven days a week. "The secret to keeping the facility spotless is hiring a good employees," says McDonald. "The employees work hard cleaning the building and take it to heart when the public abuses it. It's this type of employees' ownership that helps keep the rink spotless.

"Like many facilities, we have rules that are designed to keep the building safe and clean. The key is in consistency in enforcing the rules. While the facility is kept clean for the sake of the public, abuse of the building is not tolerated. Most people who use our facility know how we operate," explains McDonald. "And those who don't find out quickly. My staff is trained to put a stop to inappropriate behavior immediately."

"Another key to keeping a clean facility is constant monitoring and maintenance. "The cleaning really is an ongoing process when you are maintaining a public facility," says McDonald. "As fast as you clean it, it seems to get dirty. I am constantly checking to make sure the building is up to my standards. I have found that the cleaner you keep a facility, the less likely the public is to abuse it."

The McDonald Center was originally called the Fire Lake Recreation Center but was renamed in 1994 following the death of the beloved local hockey coach Harry McDonald. "Coach Mac," as he was affectionately called, was a physical education teacher at the local high school for over 27 years. He was the father figure of the hockey community and was one of the main proponents in getting the rink built in the early '80s.

Throughout his 30 years as a hockey coach, Coach Mac coached every level from three and four year olds to high school and adults. He was killed while piloting a small plane and spotting sheep for a friend in the mountains around Eagle River. His loss shocked the community of Eagle River and Anchorage. His memorial service, held at the local high school gymnasium, was attended by over 3,000 people.

"Many people see my pa as a local legend," says Reid McDonald. "He meant a lot to the community, especially young people."

While the official name of the building is the "Harry J. McDonald Memorial Center," many people prefer calling the rink "Coach Mac's Rink" or simply "The Mac."

Reid McDonald, the Center's general manager of two years, is the son of the late Harry McDonald. "It really is a thrill working at a facility named after my pa," said Reid. Having grown up playing hockey at the rink, Reid was hired as general manager in 1997, following John Rodda who had been manager for 13 years.

"John is responsible for the building being kept as nice as it has been all these years," says McDonald, who calls Rodda his role model. Those entering the building for the first time are amazed at how clean it's kept and that it's 15 years old. "John set the standard for keeping a well maintained facility. Now the challenge is maintaining that level of excellence as the building matures." 

No matter how well you maintain a building, after 15 years things start to wear out. Therefore, preventative maintenance plays a big role in fixing things before they break and cause possible down time. The McDonald Center follows a very structured preventative maintenance program which includes every aspect of the facility from the Zamboni to the refrigeration system. While regular maintenance includes daily, weekly, and monthly checks, most of the annual maintenance happens during the rink's shut-down period, typically mid-April through the end of May. The building is rented out the weekend immediately following ice-out process for a car show, then the maintenance begins. Everything gets cleaned with great attention to detail.

"I have a vested interest in the facility, not solely because my father's name is on the outside of the building, because I have grown up in this community and I care about the public's recreational interests. It gives me great satisfaction to know the job I'm doing helps provide the public with healthy forms of recreation," says McDonald. In 1998, the rink provided service to over 68,000, users, not including spectators. The first year the facility was open there were about 6,800 users. 

Although the town of Eagle River is growing rapidly, it  remains a tight-knit community. The small town atmosphere is apparent as soon as you enter the rink. Office Manager Sandy Farmer, who recently celebrated her 10th anniversary as a rink employee, is on a first name basis with most who enter the building. Sandy's husband Richard is the facility's maintenance supervisor. When the facility's name was changed in 1994, it was the Farmers' son Jason who created the new facility signs as an Eagle Scout project.