Steel Ice Center to expand with third rink by 2027

The Steel Ice Center will expand its facility with the addition of a third ice rink as part of a 34,000-square-foot project. Located near the SteelStacks on East First Street, the center is home to the Lehigh Phantoms Youth Hockey League and the Lehigh men’s ice hockey team. 

Keith Krem, the owner of the Steel Ice Center, said construction is expected to break ground in August or September of 2026 and be completed by the fall of 2027.

For both recreational ice skating and hockey programs using the facility, Krem said securing adequate ice time has become increasingly difficult. 

Niko Cadoret, ‘27, a member of Lehigh’s hockey team, said building another rink will benefit both the sport and the local community. 

“It’s going to give another athletic source for the youth to stay in shape and stay healthy,” Cadoret said.

Currently, Lehigh’s hockey team practices late at night, and youth practices start early in the morning. According to the center’s calendar, practices run from 9:30 p.m. to 11:45 p.m.

Cadoret said the addition will make ice time more flexible and benefit the team overall. He said as a first-year, he had 8 a.m. classes after late-night practices, which made mornings brutal.

Krem said construction will not interfere with the Lehigh team’s current ice schedule or the use of the existing rinks. 

Demand for another rink has grown along with participation. Krem said the Lehigh Phantoms Youth League, the center’s primary tenant, has doubled in size from 250 to over 500 players. 

After The Rink at Lehigh Valley in Whitehall closed three years ago, rinks in the area became limited, with the nearest facility being located in Allentown. Krem said the expansion will make ice sports more accessible. 

“Whether they want to be a figure skater, a hockey player — whatever it may be — the more ice time we have, the more accessibility we have to those members of the community that want to enjoy ice sports in various forms,” Krem said. 

Cadoret said the new rink will be built behind the current facility on a grass field sometimes used for overflow parking. 

While Lehigh’s team isn’t the only tenant, the project includes plans to renovate the pro shop into a dedicated locker room for the university’s hockey team, Krem said. 

He also said that St. Luke’s University Health Network, which manages the on-site fitness programming, is expected to continue its partnership through the expansion. 

Matt Malozi, a member of the Bethlehem City Planning Commission which is composed of city residents appointed by the mayor to five-year terms, approved the project.

The commission has authority over land development applications such as this expansion. 

He also said the Bethlehem Planning Commission’s approval is a form of democratic self-governance, as the group operates the public-facing parts of land development review and approval processes.

Malozi said he doesn’t anticipate any logistical issues with the project since it will expand an existing facility and isn’t located near residences or businesses that might oppose it. 

“(The expansion) is great because ice time is a commodity,” he said. “There’s a finite amount of it in a large region, so I believe business-wise, there’s a demand for it.”