March 13, 2012
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - The official groundbreaking ceremony for Pegula Ice Arena, the new state-of-the-art, multi-purpose facility slated for completion in September 2013, will take place Friday, April 20, at the Penn State Field Hockey Complex. The ceremony will fall on the Friday of Penn State Football's annual Blue-White Weekend.
Penn State President Rodney Erickson, Acting Director of Athletics Dave Joyner and a member of the University's Board of Trustees will be among the scheduled speakers. Terrence M. and Kim Pegula, whose $88 million gift paved the way for the arena that will carry their name, Joe Battista, associate athletic director for ice arena and hockey development, and head ice hockey coaches Josh Brandwene (women) and Guy Gadowsky (men) will be among those in attendance.
"It's exciting to look at the construction site and see the tremendous progress being made each day," said Brandwene. "The ceremony will be a special moment for all of Penn State Hockey and the Penn State community as we will be one step closer to dropping the puck in September 2013."
"Pegula Ice Arena will be a first-rate facility that will provide wonderful opportunities for the Centre County region," said Gadowsky. "April's ceremony will be a great opportunity to celebrate the construction progress and all the people who made it possible."
Located near the corner of University Drive and Curtin Road across from the Bryce Jordan Center, the 200,000-square foot, 6,000-seat facility will open prior to the 2013-14 season. The 2013-14 campaign will mark the men's team's first in the newly-created Big Ten Conference, while the women's squad will begin its second season in College Hockey America. Pegula Ice Arena construction began in early February.