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The Jordan Valley Ice Park will is now home to a junior amateur hockey team called The Springfield Spirit. The club formerly known as The St. Louis Sting has moved here. The Spirit is affiliated with the North American Hockey League, with players ages 16 to 20 years old.
That league is a feeder program for players interested in getting scholarships at major colleges. The team has been in St. Louis for five years.
“We've worked extremely hard to try and be a part of this project here. We thank the city for giving us the opportunity to come down here and be a part of a grass roots program," said Kelly Chase, director of hockey operations for the club.
The club should have a positive economic impact on the city. The popularity of public ice skating, added to the home games of The Spirit, will benefit area businesses. Several have noticed more customers lately. It was one of the goals of developing the ice rink.
“As this development grows, as more of the facilities within the development are put in place, it's just going to have a great effect on everything in the area," said Sonja Chasteen of the Springfield Area Chamber of Commerce.
“You can tell they've been down there, families and stuff,” said Ed Slagle, manager of Steak N’ Shake on St. Louis Street at National Avenue.
“It's a bonus to all the business owners down here,” said Mike Mayfield of Market Place Café at 307 S. National. “It brings in people to the restaurants, to the shops and we're always excited when we hear about something like this.”
The vision of city developers who made the Jordan Valley Park project a reality is to bring people to downtown, increase quality of life, and bring more to the local economy.
“Just giving people more and more choices as to how they're going to spend their leisure time and where they're going to shop and where they're going to dine,” said Chasteen. “And, of course, every time they do those things, they're spending money.
Some are preparing for the possibility of more traffic to their business.
“We'll probably staff a few extra people, and stuff to be prepared for however many people come downtown for it," said Slagle.
Merchants expect things to get ever busier this Friday night. That's when the first home game of The Spirit will be.
For more information, contact: Benjamin Alexander, Jordan Valley Park Project Manager, 864-1190.
