DELAWARE- A miracle may soon be on the horizon for ice skaters and hockey players in lower Delaware.
Miracle Ice Arena, a newly formed nonprofit, has launched a $2 million fundraising campaign to bring ice sports back to Kent and Sussex counties after the Delaware State Fair shut down the region's only indoor rink earlier this year.
In January 2025, officials announced the Harrington Centre Ice Arena would close at the end of the season. When it shut its doors in May, hundreds of skaters and families were left without a place to skate.
The closest rinks are now in Easton, Maryland, or New Castle County — more than an hour away — forcing many teams to split up and leaving others to stop skating altogether.
To fill the gap, Miracle Ice purchased the former Harrington rink's equipment, which is currently stored in four containers at the Delaware State Fairgrounds.
The group plans to build a state-of-the-art, two-sheet indoor ice facility in Georgetown. The first rink is expected to open in fall 2026.
Chris Koch, who helps run the Delmarva Warriors program for veterans, says getting a rink back in lower Delaware finally feels possible.
"We had it here, and right now we have it right here. We have four big sedan containers full of an ice rink. We just need to find a place for it to go and call home and rekindle that."
Wayne Evans, a Miracle Ice board member and founder of the Generals youth hockey program, says the recent Harrington closure has made it very difficult for families in lower Delaware to find opportunities for their kids to skate or play hockey.
"There are several families — probably over a hundred — whose kids aren't doing anything right now. No hockey, no figure skating, no chance to get on the ice at all."
Koch says his team, the Delmarva Warriors, which started at the former Harrington facility, now has to travel more than two hours for practices just to stay on the ice.
"There's nothing in Kent or Sussex. We went over to Easton."
The new Miracle Ice facility is planned to include learn-to-skate and learn-to-play programs, youth and adult hockey leagues, figure skating, public skating, community events, private rentals, and eventually curling.
While the ultimate goal is a two-sheet arena and multi-purpose space, Evans says the immediate focus is getting one sheet operational as quickly as possible to give lower Delaware skaters a place to call home.
"The whole goal is to get one sheet up and running by the fall of 2026. That's why we're really pushing for the fundraising and everything else right now."
As of the afternoon of September 9, the Miracle Ice fundraiser had collected $354.
The group says its $2 million campaign is the first step toward a $5 million overall goal to cover land, equipment, and other costs to launch the new facility.
Miracle Ice has also secured support from regional and national partners, including Salisbury University, the USA Warriors Ice Hockey program for veterans, Generals Hockey, and Havoc Ice Hockey, which organizes high school and middle school teams.
The closure of the Harrington rink also reignited talk of the Dover Civic Arena project at Schutte Park. That effort had been in the works since the Delaware Thunder lost its contract with the Delaware State Fair two years ago and originally aimed to open by summer 2026.
Delaware Thunder CEO Charles Pens told WBOC the Civic Arena project was "all ready to go" with land, designs and investors in place — but stalled after Sen. Dave Lawson announced a $20 million state-funded temporary rink at Schutte Park.
When Lawson's project was announced, officials estimated that a single-rink facility at Schutte Park would cost about $10 million, while a two-rink complex could run between $18 million and $22 million. His plan called for a temporary rink designed as a permanent structure with movable parts, allowing it to be relocated to a future main arena.
The project was originally set to open by fall 2025, but in March, Lawson acknowledged government and funding delays would push back that timeline.
Pens told WBOC that while the Dover Civic Arena project has been "dead in the water" for the past few months, Dover City Council members have recently reached out about reviving the idea.
WBOC contacted Lawson's office. His team directed us to Dover mayor Robin Christiansen, whose team said a closed-door meeting with skating leaders is scheduled for Wednesday night at City Hall.