Raindrops may stop falling on heads at the Stumptown Ice Den where the roof has been leaking for years. 

A new metal roof, with a price tag of around $2 million, is in the works. If funding is approved, the job is expected to be done by August 2027. 

The city owns the Ice Den and the park it sits on and has had a management agreement with the nonprofit Whitefish Sports Facility Foundation since 2015, when the rink became a year-round facility. Currently, the city and the foundation are updating the 11-year-old management agreement. 

The foundation manages all the operations inside the building, and the city maintains the structure and grounds. The board is made up of representatives from each of the facility user groups, and the public is represented by members of the Park Board. 

The existing roof was built in 2002 and has needed to be overhauled for several years. 

Rink manager Greg Harms started working at the Ice Den in 2014, and the roof has been leaking since then, he recalled. 

"It has had some problems from the beginning,” Whitefish Parks and Recreation Director Maria Butts said. “We've chased leaks for many, many years and we've tried to repair certain sections of it throughout the years, and we just never have been able to completely stop the leaks from coming through.” 

Jack Fallon, board president of the Whitefish Sports Facility Foundation, and Harms pointed out several places in the building that are suffering from water damage, including a hole in the ceiling of a men’s bathroom stall, actively dripping into an ever-present bucket. 

“The whole building interior was painted last less than 12 months ago and we're getting all sorts of seam issues and leak issues,” Fallon said. “The city did some temporary fixes in the last couple of years and replaced screws, but then, as soon as you get your first freeze-thaw, it fails.” 

A ceiling tile Harms replaced just the previous day already sported a coffee-brown water stain.  

Rink side, a rusty band around an air duct looms over the bench where drips regularly fall on hockey players. The ice has been scarred by constant drips that created a baseball-sized crater requiring frequent repair. 

"We recognize that it's at the end of his lifespan at this point,” Butts said of the roof. “We did get some cost estimates that essentially allowed us to place roofing on top of the existing roofing and it was a little less expensive, but our concern was ... we may be covering up more problems.” 

The project will go through budget meetings, a bid process and contract authorization, during which time there will be opportunities for public input. 

At the May 26 preliminary budget meeting, Councilor Steve Qunell expressed concern about Whitefish taxpayers footing the bill for the roof when the facility sees users from outside city limits. 

Councilor Andy Feury said the Ice Den hosts hockey tournaments that bring in hundreds of visitors who spend money on lodging, food and beverage, thus contributing to the Whitefish economy. 

THE LAND WAS given to the city by the Saddle Club in the mid-1990s.  

Butts said there are representatives of the Saddle Club “who are still interested in making sure that we still continue to abide by that deed, which is to say that that property needs to remain a public park.” 

The grounds include a playground and a volleyball court, and a public skate component of the rink programming. 

A group of citizens interested in covering the open-air rink in 2002 decided to create a pavilion and formed the Whitefish Sports Facility Foundation to raise funds for the project. The foundation, at that time, entered into its first agreement with the city. 

Today, the Ice Den is one busy place. 

“The programming has become almost 18 hours a day versus maybe just 10 hours a day five years ago,” Fallon said.  

“From six in the morning till midnight, the ice is called for, seven days a week,” Harms said. “We have a lot of public skate, and I bring school groups in almost every day.”  

Harms said early morning practices being around 5:45 a.m., youth groups begin around 3:30 p.m. and run until 9 p.m., and adult hockey runs until midnight.  

"There's not any time [of the day] or any time of the year when we don't have someone on the ice,” he said. 

Running an ice rink is not cheap. Replacing the chiller system costs about $700,000. Harms ordered a new, $20,000 compressor just last week. Fallon explained they need to keep enough money in the reserves to cover the chiller replacement.  

Without a chiller, there is no ice. 

Reporter Julie Engler can be reached at 406-862-3505 or [email protected]. If you value local journalism, pledge your support at whitefishpilot.com/support.

    The leaking ceiling in the men's room at the Ice Den is, fortunately not directly over the toilet. (Juile Engler/Whitefish PIlot)
  

    One leak is located directly above the players' bench at the Ice Den. (juile Engler/Whitefish Pilot)