Ted Leonsis, the Capitals, and the NHL have launched a campaign to help fund repairs to the aging Fort Dupont Ice Arena.

Friends of Fort Dupont Ice Arena

The Washington Capitals, team owner Ted Leonsis, and the NHL kicked off a half-a-million-dollar fundraising campaign over the weekend—to which they collectively gave $300,000—to help pay for a modernization and expansion of the Fort Dupont Ice Arena, D.C.’s only full-size ice rink.

The campaign comes after Mayor Muriel Bowser asked the D.C. Council to reallocate $21 million that had been slated for repairs to the aging facility, saying that the funds are needed to cover emergency roof and HVAC repairs at dozens of D.C. schools and recreation facilities. The request has prompted pushback from users and supporters of the 43-year-old rink, which is located in Ward 7, over fears that if she gets the money moved, the arena’s long-awaited modernization will never happen.

Leonsis is among those supporters, tweeting on Friday that the Fort Dupont Ice Arena is “a community treasure and a critical facility for young skaters.” He added that he hopes that “funding can be restored for this rink that offers free figure skating, hockey and skating lessons and is the only public indoor ice arena in Washington.” The Capitals also expressed support for the modernization.

The $500,000 fundraising campaign Leonsis helped kick off is expected to go toward the $5 million that the Friends of Fort Dupont Arena, the non-profit which has run the facility since 1996, is supposed to contribute to the project’s overall price tag of $30 million. The project would include a modernization of the whole facility and the construction of a second ice rink.

But the fate of the whole project was thrown into question last month. Bowser asked the Council to take $55 million from other projects in the capital budget—including the $21 million from Fort Dupont—and use it instead for emergency repairs on rec centers and schools, including full HVAC replacements at 10 schools across the city.

Bowser said last week that the money for Fort Dupont’s modernization had not been used yet, and as such, could be quickly repurposed for immediate repairs at schools. “The things we need that are ready to go have to come in place of some of the other things that we can do later,” she said.

But members of the Friends of Fort Dupont Ice Arena’s board said they were blindsided by Bowser’s request for their money.

“We were really shocked and disappointed because the city never reached out to us,” said Patrice Willoughby, an attorney who serves on the group’s board. “We have attempted and at every stage of the project we have been in contact with them to let them know what we were doing with the [private fundraising] campaign. There were long instances that we didn’t hear anything [from the government].”

On Monday, Willoughby led a group of more than a dozen users and supporters of the ice arena around the Wilson Building, hoping to convince lawmakers to support a resolution set for a vote on Tuesday that would block Bowser’s attempt to take the arena’s money. The resolution was written by Ward 7 Councilmember Vincent Gray.

Council Chairman Phil Mendelson says he thinks Bowser’s request will be approved, largely because “it is benefiting a lot of different schools across the city.” But he also conceded that users of the ice arena had reason to be frustrated that its modernization would be delayed.

“I’m very concerned about it,” he said. “I spoke with [City Administrator Rashad Young] last night about it, and it was my recommendation that he come forward with a commitment that the money be restored, not this year, but in a subsequent year. I think that’s important.”

Willoughby says that the Friends of Fort Dupont Ice Arena are looking for a “firm commitment” that if the money was moved out of their budget, it would be replaced next year.

A request for comment from Young’s office was not returned on Monday.

One of the people lobbying the Council on Monday afternoon was Tenaj Gueory, 21, who participated in the arena’s Kids On Ice program when she was growing up and now coaches there.

“Fort Dupont is important because we not only teach kids how to skate, we teach them life lessons they don’t necessarily get anywhere else,” she said. “The facility has been in the same shape for 43 years. It’s just needs a facelift and an extra sheet of ice so we give back to our kids. We can definitely get more kids on ice, because right now we’re just fighting for ice time.”

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