WAUPUN — The Waupun City Council approved changing the name of the former Waupun Community Center to “Waupun Recreational Arena.”
The former Community Center at 510 E Spring St—often referred to as the Waupun Hockey Rink or Ice Arena—has been called such since 1975 when the building was completed, and the announcement of the name of the new “intergenerational” facility at 520 McKinley St led to some confusion about what would happen about the old building.
This item was discussed at the Special Common Council Meeting held Tuesday, January 28, 2025.
The main issue to the Council was that the City wayfinding signs currently point to the ice rink as the “Community Center.”
The new Community Center facility at 520 McKinley St was given that name because in the City’s opinion, it better fit the concept of a “community center.” The City first announced the name when holding the groundbreaking for the new facility in September 2023. Following this, they recommended that the name for the Waupun Hockey Rink be changed to something more fitting for itself.
Director of Public Works Jeff Daane was the one to bring the matter to the Council, having worked with the Hockey Association on the name and building maintenance. The matter had previously been discussed at the January 14 Board of Public Work meeting.
Daane recommended that whatever decision the Council makes, they should make sure it is their final one. He pointed out that it takes a lot of man-hours to apply the wayfinding sign decals across the City, and that due to the thickness of the decals, to put more than one decal would start to make the difference visible on the signs.
Mayor of Waupun Rohn Bishop also mentioned that the City had offered to sell the building to the Hockey Association for $1, but it was not financially feasible for them to take on all expenses when it comes to the maintenance of the building.
The Council concluded that the signs will say “Recreational Arena,” and will not likely be changed if the naming rights are sold.
The motion was carried unanimously to change the name to Waupun Recreational Arena.
While the name “Waupun Ice Arena” was the recommendation from the Mayor, the name “Waupun Recreational Arena” was originally suggested by the Waupun Hockey Association. According to the Hockey Association vice president Tyler Loomans, the board didn’t want the building to feel like it was exclusively for the purpose of hockey since it has several events during the off season while the ice is removed.
“We had discussed it several times over the last year or so, when we found out about the City wanting to name the new facility the Waupun Community Center,” Loomans said. “We more or less decided on the new name in December.”
Loomans also thanked Jeff Daane and the Waupun Department of Public Works for working with them on maintenance in the building.
As for the naming rights to the building, the Association is still open to taking on a sponsor. They had offered it to several of their large donors but all liked where they were at.
“It’s something that we would certainly still take in if it’s the right fit,” he said. “I think what we would look for is something that we have had really nice help with this project, and the money that we’ve gotten, and I think that this would be something of a partnership through a number of years to help sustain the facility we have right now.”
If a sponsor takes them up on the offer, it will likely be named “[Sponsor] Recreational Arena” and applied to the sign outside the rink, with no change to City wayfinding signage.
While no number was put to the naming rights sponsorship, the hockey rink floor replacement fundraiser is currently about $150,000 from the goal, which originally was seeking a total over $800,000. Construction will begin on the floor replacement once the hockey season concludes this spring, and if the goal is not met by then the Association will take out loans to cover the rest—which will need to be fundraised for after the floor is complete.
