Community First Igloo
Overview
The Community First Igloo is a spectacular, completely renovated 100,000-square-foot ice sports and public recreation entertainment complex located in Jacksonville's vibrant sports center. Featuring two state-of-the-art, NHL-sized ice skating rinks, this impressive facility serves as the official training headquarters for the local professional Icemen hockey team. Visitors can rent quality skates for lively public skating sessions, enroll in professional figure skating academies, or join competitive adult hockey leagues. Complete with a fantastic pro shop, a high-tech laser tag arena, and a full-service sports bar and grille that overlooks the icy action, it provides a thrilling, highly refreshing winter-style sanctuary perfect for escape from summer heat.
Practical Info
Travel Tips
- Pack heavy insulated jackets, windproof pants, and thick athletic socks regardless of external sub-tropical heat, as the twin-rink interior maintains a constant 40-50°F environment.
- Pre-register and secure rental ice skate sizing online via the digital booking platform, as on-site walk-up ticket panes regularly close early when skate inventory caps are exhausted.
- Avoid driving into the venue complex between 17:00 and 19:30 on weekdays during local youth hockey league transit times; divert directly to the secondary western lot to bypass single-lane gridlock.
Reviews
- This newly renovated twin-rink ice complex is highly modern; the giant high-definition indoor LED screens and crystalline ice surfaces deliver a stunning visual impact.
- Serving as the core hub for youth hockey and public ice skating sessions, the crowd management is impeccable, enforcing strict capacity limits so the rinks never get choked.
- Accessibility infrastructure achieves top-tier standards, featuring perfectly flat pathways throughout the facility, specialized adaptive sleds, and fully compliant restrooms.
- The complex houses a unique sports bar and lounge called The Ice Bar, offering fairly priced meals and double-paned observation windows to watch hockey while dining.
- To preserve ice premium quality, the rinks maintain a frigid ambient temperature; visitors who neglect to pack heavy fleece layers or warm coats will shiver miserably.
- Public skate slots are scattered sparsely throughout the weekly ledger and fluctuate often, occasionally cutting short for private hockey training, requiring frequent website checks.
- The extra up-charge for renting on-site figure or hockey skates is slightly expensive relative to admission, and popular sizes sell out quickly during busy weekend hours.
- During weekday evening youth hockey drop-off spikes, the facility's dedicated lot fills completely, and the narrow dual-lane entry roads suffer heavy brief gridlocks.