COEUR d'ALENE - Say hello to Frontier Ice Arena.

So sounds the name of the soon-to-be completed Kootenai Youth Recreation Organization's ice rink, after Frontier Communications and the local nonprofit announced Thursday that the Fortune 500 company agreed to naming rights on the $2.8 million facility.

"It's our way to introduce our name to the community," said Frontier Vice President Daniel McCarthy, "This was a perfect opportunity. It just seemed like a gap that the community was rallying around and trying to fill."

The seven-year, $175,000 deal will give the arena its new name. Frontier acquired all Verizon assets in North Idaho in July. It does business in 27 states with 15,200 employees.

Under the agreement, Frontier will provide $25,000 annually to KYRO.

With its headquarters squarely in the hockey hotbed of the northeast, the Samford, Conn., company knows a thing or two about people's need for ice time.

"People wake up at 2 a.m. back east and drive for two hours for ice time," McCarthy said.

Come Thanksgiving, the arena, 3525 W. Seltice Way, should be open once and for all. What's needed is $140,000 more in donations, but KYRO representatives are optimistic that the naming deal will springboard other supporters who might be looking to chip in.

"We're hoping it will help push them off the fence," said Matt Beam, KYRO manager.

KYRO and Frontier representatives announced the deal Thursday at a ribbon-cutting ceremony at the rink. The facility isn't complete, but has the footprint secured where the locker room, stands, and 200-foot-long, National Hockey League-sized skating surface will stand.

"It's been an experience," Beam said of the journey, which began after the original pole barn-type facility collapsed under record-breaking snowfall in 2008, and has since ventured to fundraising meetings and presentations across the area. "The collapse has really injected us back into the community."

KYRO has also applied for a $300,000 grant through M.J. Murdock Charitable Trust. The Spokane Chiefs hockey team, meanwhile, is looking to play an exhibition game or two on Coeur d'Alene's side of the state line.

How to help

n Help support the ice skating arena Saturday by attending its barbecue, and raffle fundraiser from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., at the arena, 3525 W. Seltice Way. There will be games for children as well as arena tours, local business tables, and rink and skating sales. Info: www.kyro.org or 765-4423.