COVID-19 Update - Ice Center Cupertino

As you may know, the local school districts have extended the closure period until the end of the school year; we fully expect the order for all non-essential businesses to remain closed will last at least that long, if not longer. We will provide further updates as we receive new information.

While that is happening, our fulltime salaried staff remain working (from home) and on payroll. We have supported our hourly staff in completing the paperwork for Unemployment Insurance. All staff has been told they will be rehired once the restrictions are lifted and the rink is reopened. We are updating our plans for reopening on a weekly basis. We are monitoring our refrigeration equipment remotely as well, with any on-site maintenance done as needed. The rink has been thoroughly cleaned since the closure order happened.

While the rink will remain closed for the foreseeable future, this is only a temporary situation:

THE ICE CENTER OF CUPERTINO WILL FULLY REOPEN ONCE THE STATE AND COUNTY RESTRICTIONS ARE LIFTED AND WE DEEM IT SAFE FOR OUR CUSTOMERS AND STAFF.

Please take a look at our FAQ's; we will post more as needed:

• Is the ice surface still frozen?
  Yes, we continue to keep the ice frozen for several reasons. First, it takes a lot of resources and time to rebuild the ice once melted. In addition, the only source for the quality ice paint that we (and most others) use is located in Ontario, Canada, and not only are they currently facing the same non-essential business closure orders as we are, but also all non-essential trade between the U.S. and Canada has been halted. If we were to allow the ice to melt, it could be several months after the restrictions are lifted before we could get the ice paint we would need in order to fully reopen the rink. Lastly, the ice paint has a shelf life of less than a year, which is why no rink stockpiles ice paint internally.

• I've heard the rink in Valencia, CA has closed permanently and will not reopen as an ice rink. Is this going to happen to the Ice Center of Cupertino?
  No. The Ice Center of Cupertino has a very long-term lease in place, and while the rink is temporarily closed now because of the non-essential business restrictions, we will fully reopen when these orders are lifted and we deem it safe. All available staff will be rehired once the rink is reopened. All the programs that we offer will continue to be offered. Once we know the reopen date, we will issue new schedules for every single program we offered prior to the shutdown, including any make up sessions for interrupted classes. There will be some other, special, reopening events happening, so stay tuned for that information.

• What about future events that were scheduled prior to the restrictions; are these schedule dates still viable?
  We anticipate completely revamping all program schedules once we know when we will reopen. For all of our programs, whether it be hockey, figure skating, Cool Camp, Birthday Parties and all the others, we often schedule dates quite a bit into the future in order for all of our customers to plan accordingly. So, currently, we have various schedules that run through August in some cases. With the rink being temporarily closed for at least several weeks, if not longer, we will need to rewrite the schedules. We will attempt to keep as many currently scheduled future dates as we can, but there is a very good chance every program schedule will change at least somewhat.

• What about cleaning/sanitizing once the rink is reopened?
  We understand that, even when the rink reopens, customers and staff will continue to have concerns about safety. We will have, as always, plenty of hand washing supplies in stock, and hand washing has been shown to be the best defense. We will also have several hand sanitizer stations in strategic locations throughout the rink when hand washing might not be possible for some reason. Staff will be sanitizing counters and other high-traffic locations frequently, and we will be doubling our cleaning schedule that we have in place after the rink closes for the night.

• What can we do to help?
  The most important thing every one of our customers can do to help us during this time is to come back once the rink reopens. We are working on several fronts to minimize our expenses while temporarily closed, as well as using all small business assistance that is being offered. Our main economic concern, perhaps surprisingly, isn't for the time we are closed, it's for the period of time after we reopen. So, once the restrictions are lifted and it's safe to do so, please come back to the rink and take a skating class, enroll in a hockey program or come out to a public skating session. Your support once the rink reopens is very important to us.