K21 Hosts Ribbon-Cutting, Free Community Skate At Miller Sunset Pavilion
November 16, 2022 at 11:08 p.m.
K21 Hosts Ribbon-Cutting, Free Community Skate At Miller Sunset Pavilion
By David [email protected]
On Wednesday, the K21 Health Foundation hosted a ribbon-cutting ceremony for the Miller Sunset Pavilion, 789 Park Ave., Winona Lake, which includes an ice skating rink.
On Saturday, to help christen the opening of the skating season, K21 will host a free skate for the community from noon to 8 p.m. at the Pavilion. Prizes and other surprises will be shared throughout the day, as well as free drinks and snacks for all skaters. There will also be a grand prize of a family season pass for those attending the noon opening.
Before the ribbon-cutting Wednesday, K21 President and CEO Rich Haddad took a few minutes to honor and thank everyone who made the Pavilion happen.
“This has been a long time coming, and it is really exciting to see this actually happen and we’re ready for the ice this weekend,” he said, noting how challenging and how many people, organizations and partners it takes to pull off something like the Pavilion.
“First and foremost, all kudos to the town of Winona Lake for having the commitment and vision to bringing this to our community,” Haddad said.
KLA and many cadets helped keep the ice rink vision and dream possible.
Allyn Decker, KLA, gave credit to the KLA cadets who had a vision for the ice rink or something like it.
“So, over KLA’s 40 years, we’ve quietly been improving our community through our white paper projects, and in this neck of the woods that would include things like the Splash Pad, our trail system, the Manahan Orthopaedic Capital Center and now this amazing facility,” he said.
It begins with a vision and a dream and then the cadets put it down on paper.
“This ice rink took four white paper projects for it to finally come to fruition,” Decker said before having the cadets present who were involved in those white paper projects to wave their hands. “So many thanks to them, thanks to the K21 Health Foundation, to the town of Winona for making it happen. We couldn’t be happier.”
Next, Haddad thanked The Village at Winona Managing Director Nick Hauck on behalf of the community for personally help drive and make a reality.
Hauck said he did some research and found that in 1996 the first white paper project on an ice rink was done and it was called Cutting Edge. After that, there were three more white paper projects on an ice rink - Ice Ice Baby in 2008, Ice Ice Baby 2 in 2016 and Ice Ice Baby 3 in 2019.
“So when you look back all the way to 1996, there were 26 years of this facility in the making, so when you think about how many people invested time throughout 26 years and thinking about this project, it truly is a dream to fulfill that time commitment all those people made throughout that time,” Hauck.
He said he first talked to Haddad on Jan. 13, 2019, about the ice rink.
“We were able to do this a little under four years, from the beginning talks to where we are now,” Hauck said. “So it’s pretty amazing.”
He thanked Mary Louise Miller and everything she’s donated.
Mary Louise Miller and the Miller family, who the building is named for, donated the land for the pavilion, according to a news release from K21. She also was instrumental to the project by leading the development through formation of WL Ice LLC as well as financing construction.
After the ceremony, Mary Louise Miller said the facility was “perfect” and “everything we dreamed about. It’s going to be a perfect addition to The Village.”
The Pavilion is the town of Winona Lake’s facility, Haddad said.
“We are excited that they have chosen to invest in our greater community by committing a place like this that really has 12-month, year-round asset and value to our community. I’m really excited about all the things this facility will be possible, of course, we’re most excited about the ice skating,” Haddad said.
Winona Lake Town Manager Craig Allebach said, “The day is finally here and it’s kind of emotional, really. This county has been waiting for this for a long time, and thanks to the persistence of the community and to those involved in those KLA projects that created that vision, it came to be.”
The town’s comprehensive plan is titled Imagine 30. When they were putting the plan together, the question came up from Hauck about if the town would be interested in doing an ice rink, Allebach said. The town decided to put the ice rink in the comprehensive plan and it became a reality.
“And then working with a private-public partnership we created with The Village at Winona - not just in this project, but really in the last 20, 30 years - we’ve got a great partnership here in this community,” Allebach said.
A plan was developed to make the ice rink a town asset.
“The project was being developed and then we got a big push from the challenge from K21, so we were really working on it beforehand, but when K21 and their anniversary celebration said we’re going to put a million dollars out there, we were all in,” Allebach said.
Haddad announced a $1 million pledge toward the Pavilion’s construction during the K21 20th anniversary celebration in 2019, which ultimately turned into a $1.5 million grant to the town of Winona Lake’s development plan to make it happen in Kosciusko County, according to the K21 news release.
Allebach thanked K21 for not only their contribution toward the ice rink but their other contributions toward projects in the town.
He said he and Hauck worked to create a further partnership between Winona Ice and Mary Louise Miller to help build the Pavilion. He said it wasn’t the traditional build.
“So this is a build, operate and then transfer (BOT), so we created the public-private partnership with Winona Ice to build it. They operated it and then we made the transfer. So now this is a town asset,” Allebach stated. “What that does is it speeds the project up. And so we were basically able to get this done, not as quick as we would have liked - we would have liked to have been here a year ago - but that’s just the way it works. But when you go with conventional bidding, it takes a little bit longer.”
Allebach thanked Hauck and The Village, the vision of Dane and Mary Louise Miller, the Winona Lake Town Council and local contractors including Robinson Construction and G & G Hauling & Excavating.
“Again, (it’s) really a community asset, and I really look forward to this Pavilion and realizing its potential and the vision of the Miller Sunset Pavilion,” he concluded.
Haddad thanked the Millers for investing so much in making The Village and Winona Lake what it is today.
“And in this particular project, this was her property that she’s donated to make this possible, and Winona Lake Ice is her ability to help the development, the construction and the financing of this possible for the town to then take this forward. So, I?don’t think enough can be said” about the Miller family and Mary Louise Miller in particular, he said.
He thanked all the contractors who made the Pavilion possible, as well as the past and present Board of Directors of K21.
“Again, in 2019, we did something very unusual. We said, ‘Let’s just throw this challenge out and make this commitment and see if we can get all the planning, all the desires, all the interest in an ice rink to become a reality. So I want to thank my Board of Directors for actually making that commitment that was a $1 million that turned into $1.5 million to help put money behind this project,” Haddad said.
For more details about the Miller Sunset Pavilion and how you can support it, visit the town of Winona Lake website or millersunsetpavilion.com.
On Wednesday, the K21 Health Foundation hosted a ribbon-cutting ceremony for the Miller Sunset Pavilion, 789 Park Ave., Winona Lake, which includes an ice skating rink.
On Saturday, to help christen the opening of the skating season, K21 will host a free skate for the community from noon to 8 p.m. at the Pavilion. Prizes and other surprises will be shared throughout the day, as well as free drinks and snacks for all skaters. There will also be a grand prize of a family season pass for those attending the noon opening.
Before the ribbon-cutting Wednesday, K21 President and CEO Rich Haddad took a few minutes to honor and thank everyone who made the Pavilion happen.
“This has been a long time coming, and it is really exciting to see this actually happen and we’re ready for the ice this weekend,” he said, noting how challenging and how many people, organizations and partners it takes to pull off something like the Pavilion.
“First and foremost, all kudos to the town of Winona Lake for having the commitment and vision to bringing this to our community,” Haddad said.
KLA and many cadets helped keep the ice rink vision and dream possible.
Allyn Decker, KLA, gave credit to the KLA cadets who had a vision for the ice rink or something like it.
“So, over KLA’s 40 years, we’ve quietly been improving our community through our white paper projects, and in this neck of the woods that would include things like the Splash Pad, our trail system, the Manahan Orthopaedic Capital Center and now this amazing facility,” he said.
It begins with a vision and a dream and then the cadets put it down on paper.
“This ice rink took four white paper projects for it to finally come to fruition,” Decker said before having the cadets present who were involved in those white paper projects to wave their hands. “So many thanks to them, thanks to the K21 Health Foundation, to the town of Winona for making it happen. We couldn’t be happier.”
Next, Haddad thanked The Village at Winona Managing Director Nick Hauck on behalf of the community for personally help drive and make a reality.
Hauck said he did some research and found that in 1996 the first white paper project on an ice rink was done and it was called Cutting Edge. After that, there were three more white paper projects on an ice rink - Ice Ice Baby in 2008, Ice Ice Baby 2 in 2016 and Ice Ice Baby 3 in 2019.
“So when you look back all the way to 1996, there were 26 years of this facility in the making, so when you think about how many people invested time throughout 26 years and thinking about this project, it truly is a dream to fulfill that time commitment all those people made throughout that time,” Hauck.
He said he first talked to Haddad on Jan. 13, 2019, about the ice rink.
“We were able to do this a little under four years, from the beginning talks to where we are now,” Hauck said. “So it’s pretty amazing.”
He thanked Mary Louise Miller and everything she’s donated.
Mary Louise Miller and the Miller family, who the building is named for, donated the land for the pavilion, according to a news release from K21. She also was instrumental to the project by leading the development through formation of WL Ice LLC as well as financing construction.
After the ceremony, Mary Louise Miller said the facility was “perfect” and “everything we dreamed about. It’s going to be a perfect addition to The Village.”
The Pavilion is the town of Winona Lake’s facility, Haddad said.
“We are excited that they have chosen to invest in our greater community by committing a place like this that really has 12-month, year-round asset and value to our community. I’m really excited about all the things this facility will be possible, of course, we’re most excited about the ice skating,” Haddad said.
Winona Lake Town Manager Craig Allebach said, “The day is finally here and it’s kind of emotional, really. This county has been waiting for this for a long time, and thanks to the persistence of the community and to those involved in those KLA projects that created that vision, it came to be.”
The town’s comprehensive plan is titled Imagine 30. When they were putting the plan together, the question came up from Hauck about if the town would be interested in doing an ice rink, Allebach said. The town decided to put the ice rink in the comprehensive plan and it became a reality.
“And then working with a private-public partnership we created with The Village at Winona - not just in this project, but really in the last 20, 30 years - we’ve got a great partnership here in this community,” Allebach said.
A plan was developed to make the ice rink a town asset.
“The project was being developed and then we got a big push from the challenge from K21, so we were really working on it beforehand, but when K21 and their anniversary celebration said we’re going to put a million dollars out there, we were all in,” Allebach said.
Haddad announced a $1 million pledge toward the Pavilion’s construction during the K21 20th anniversary celebration in 2019, which ultimately turned into a $1.5 million grant to the town of Winona Lake’s development plan to make it happen in Kosciusko County, according to the K21 news release.
Allebach thanked K21 for not only their contribution toward the ice rink but their other contributions toward projects in the town.
He said he and Hauck worked to create a further partnership between Winona Ice and Mary Louise Miller to help build the Pavilion. He said it wasn’t the traditional build.
“So this is a build, operate and then transfer (BOT), so we created the public-private partnership with Winona Ice to build it. They operated it and then we made the transfer. So now this is a town asset,” Allebach stated. “What that does is it speeds the project up. And so we were basically able to get this done, not as quick as we would have liked - we would have liked to have been here a year ago - but that’s just the way it works. But when you go with conventional bidding, it takes a little bit longer.”
Allebach thanked Hauck and The Village, the vision of Dane and Mary Louise Miller, the Winona Lake Town Council and local contractors including Robinson Construction and G & G Hauling & Excavating.
“Again, (it’s) really a community asset, and I really look forward to this Pavilion and realizing its potential and the vision of the Miller Sunset Pavilion,” he concluded.
Haddad thanked the Millers for investing so much in making The Village and Winona Lake what it is today.
“And in this particular project, this was her property that she’s donated to make this possible, and Winona Lake Ice is her ability to help the development, the construction and the financing of this possible for the town to then take this forward. So, I?don’t think enough can be said” about the Miller family and Mary Louise Miller in particular, he said.
He thanked all the contractors who made the Pavilion possible, as well as the past and present Board of Directors of K21.
“Again, in 2019, we did something very unusual. We said, ‘Let’s just throw this challenge out and make this commitment and see if we can get all the planning, all the desires, all the interest in an ice rink to become a reality. So I want to thank my Board of Directors for actually making that commitment that was a $1 million that turned into $1.5 million to help put money behind this project,” Haddad said.
For more details about the Miller Sunset Pavilion and how you can support it, visit the town of Winona Lake website or millersunsetpavilion.com.
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