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PLANS TO REOPEN THE ICE VAULT ARENA

By Ice Vault Arena, 05/04/20, 9:30PM EDT

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It is our intention to make sure your family’s experience, when you attend hockey at the Ice Vault is a safe as humanly possible. We will follow all State, County and Local guidelines to insure your safety and health. The Ice Vault has always been one of the cleanest facilities in New Jersey and we are going to go way beyond that during these very difficult times. Your continued health and safety, as well as that of our staff, is paramount before we open our doors again.

Thank you

PART 1. BUILDING

  1. The building will open as soon as we receive permission from the State, County and Local authorities.
  2. We will follow all guidelines for Social Distancing. We will have clear markings on where you are to circulate in the building to keep guests the proper distance from each other. Rink 2 will remain down for the entire Summer season. This will afford additional Social Distancing.
  3. The Ice Vault Arena is approximately 125,000 sq. feet. We have the ability to make sure we can follow proper protocol on Social Distancing as well as making the experience of being here safe and healthy.
  4. All persons entering our facility over the age of 2, will be required to wear face masks at all times.
  5. We have formulated a 3 Phase Plan for the reopening of the facility when we are allowed to do so.
  6. Locker rooms will remain closed for the first opening phase. This is to make sure proper Social Distancing is being practiced by the players and coaches.
  7. All players and coaches will be required to wear their uniforms and equipment to the rink. There will be benches and seating area around the rink to put your skates on. We also suggest instead of bringing the normal hockey bags, that you bring smaller overnight bags, that will have your helmet and skates in them. We want to avoid clutter in the rink areas. You can utilize the small lockers that we have in Rink 1 and Rink 2 for your small bag and valuables. It is a small fee to use.
  8. We have purchased several high powered disinfecting sprayers that will be used on the player benches as well as the locker rooms, when we will start using them again. All public bathrooms will be disinfected numerous times a day to insure cleanliness. The disinfectants are approved for the safe use in all areas of the facility.
  9. We are in the process of obtaining hand sanitizing stations for all public and private areas of the facility.
  10. Staff personnel at registers used for our guests, will be wearing face shields as wells as masks for their and your safety. Plexiglass divides will also be set up to insure further separation and safety for everyone.
  11. There will be no public skating until the fall/winter season.
  12. All water fountains will be turned off in the facility.

PART 2. HOCKEY

  1. Contracting for the Hitmen Tier I Program will begin on June 1.
  2. Contracting for the Bandits Tier II Program will begin on June 11
  3. Rules and regulations for contracting have been set by the Atlantic District Executive Committee.  
  4. Anyone signing a contract will have until July 31 to withdraw that contract and be given a full refund for what they paid.
  5. The rescinding of the contract can only be for financial hardship reasons only. They will not be allowed to go to another hockey program during the 20/21 season.
  6. Practices and on ice instruction will begin when the State, County and Municipal authorities will permit us to open.
  7. Once permitted to open we will continue to follow guidelines on social distancing throughout the facility. All scheduling of practices and the training facility will be regulated to insure we are meeting all guidelines set down by State, County and Local health departments.
  8. We are planning to have a full schedule of games and practices for the season. We have limited the amount of travel for away showcases and tournaments to avoid unnecessary air travel and too many overnight stays.
  9. A mentioned above our high powered disinfecting machines will be used throughout all areas of the building with particular attention to player areas, locker rooms (when will be used), benches, bathrooms and training center.
  10. We are planning to have the Middle School Showcase, Men’s League, and possible Spring/Summer League which were cancelled, when we are permitted to do so by the State.
  11. Players will be required to bring their own water bottles. Any water bottles left behind, as well as any equipment, will be disposed of. The Lost and Found will not be operating during this time period.

PART 3. RESTAURANT AND IN THE CREASE BAR

  1. Opening of these areas will follow all State, County and Local Guidelines for Social Distancing
  2. All Staff will wear protective masks and eye wear protection.
  3. Our restaurant is quite large and will be able to easily accommodate capacity guidelines for safe distancing.
  4. Our Chefs will prepare special menus for takeout as well as in house dining.
  5. All of our utensils as well as plates and dishes are single use. They will be held behind the counter so no physical touching from our other guests.
  6. All drinks will be behind the counter and not in the front as previously for self serve.

 PART 4. PRO SHOP

  1. Anyone that needs to utilize the Pro Shop for skate sharpening or equipment repair, must do so before they go on the ice. All equipment and skate handling must be done dry and before that day’s use.
  2. All Pro Shop staff will wear face shields, masks as well as gloves to service all skates and equipment. This will apply for even the sales of new skates that need to be fitted and tried on, thus compromising Social Distancing.