HOLLYWOOD ON ICE
MOVIES ON THE BIG SCREEN AT THE NEW HOPE ICE ARENA By Bethani Gerhard, Minnesota Recreation and Park Association
The City of New Hope took the concept of a movie in the park during the summer, and brought the movie indoors during the winter. The City of New Hope has hosted two movies at the New Hope Ice Arena, one in December of 2019 and one in December of 2021. “There were over 130 people in attendance for both the open skate and the movie over winter break in December 2021,” says Aaron Thelen recreation supervisor for the City of New Hope. “The ice arena staff set-up an open skate on the south rink for families before the movie and the Armstrong Cooper Youth Hockey Association (ACYHA) served concessions to those in attendance,” adds Thelen. “We showed the movie Space Jam 2: A New Legacy on a jumbo screen on the north rink.” Thelen explains the funding for the movie and skating event was minimal since the majority of the movie equipment was already owned by the City. ACYHA sponsored the movie license through Swank Motion Pictures to show Space Jam 2: A New Legacy. In 2019, the City of New Hope hosted the movie on New Year’s Eve at the ice arena and showed the movie Aladdin on a jumbo screen on the north rink. In addition, there was open skate on the south rink before the movie. In both 2021 and 2019, it was free to watch the movie, but the open skate beforehand had an entry fee of $4/ person and skate rental was $3/person. “Both of these events would not have been possible without the coordination and partnership between parks and recreation staff and the ice arena staff,” adds Thelen. “Additionally, ACYHA was a huge partner as they paid for the movie license sponsorship, coordinated volunteers to work in the concessions stand, and promoted the event within their organization. The City of New Hope plans to continue this great event by showing various movies on the ice in the future.”
Each year MRPA recognizes agencies for outstanding achievements. The City of New Hope received a MRPA Awards of Excellence for projects completed in 2019 for the Movie at the New Hope Ice Arena in the category of programming and events. Congratulations again to the City of New Hope on this award.
Winter 2022 • MINNESOTA Recreation and Parks 37
