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SANDY — Monica Zoltanski, the mayor of Sandy, admits the Shops at South Town need a facelift.
"Anyone who's shopped (here) for the last decade knows it's ready for its moment of reinvigoration, rejuvenation," she said.
That moment is coming.
On Monday, the Utah Hockey Club held a groundbreaking for its practice facility, which will be built on the mall's site.
Smith Entertainment Group, which purchased the mall, will expand the old Macy's store on the south end of the mall to create the new facility. It will feature two ice rinks, locker rooms, team offices, and other training areas for the team.
Aside from giving the mall a new exterior, team executives also see the facility as a future community asset. SEG said it will open the rinks to youth and amateur hockey clubs, as well as to the public for recreation opportunities.
"When our guys are off the ice, the community is going to be on the ice," team owner Ryan Smith told the crowd assembled for the groundbreaking. "I don't think there's another sport like that where they take over the playing surface. Hopefully, these are your kids or your grandkids; these are your friends."
Smith said the goal is to help build the sport in Utah. He's hopeful that more rinks will start to be built throughout the state.
"We hope every municipality has an ice rink similar to this to be able to build out our youth hockey," he said. "This is an incredible moment to bring people together."
The new facility should help with that latter goal, as well. Smith envisions it becoming a "destination for people to come and interact with the NHL brand."
SEG executive Jim Olson said he can't comment on future plans of the site around the mall but said the space gives the organization "potential to do a lot of things."
Olson said SEG will not initially change any of the existing mall areas. Dreamscapes, an immersive art exhibit, had to vacate from the second floor of the old Macy's store to make space for the construction of the new facility, but other stores won't be impacted.
He added that the reception from store owners has been positive.
"We're going to bring a ton of community activation. We're going to bring people to the space," he said. "They can come here for hockey practices and then go shop or go eat or do whatever they need to do."
The plan is for the facility to be ready by the 2025-26 seasons. In the meantime, the team will use a temporary practice space at the Olympic Oval in Kearns.
"We couldn't be more excited," Smith said. "This truly is something for the community and it will be the ultimate community asset — and actually just put a big shot in the arm in this development."
