The Des Moines Buccaneers hockey team’s former home in Urbandale has closed, ending decades of making memories and leaving local youth hockey players to figure out what it means for their ice time.
The Buccaneers have not played at Buccaneer Arena at 7201 Hickman Road since 2024, when the team moved to the MidAmerican Energy Co. RecPlex in West Des Moines because of a mechanical issue that affected the ability to make ice. But the team worked with the Des Moines Youth Hockey Association to keep the facility open, until the cost became too much. Now the future of the property is in question.
Cooper Riley, president of the Des Moines Youth Hockey Association, said he felt nostalgic about the arena’s closure. “I grew up playing there” and going to Bucs games, Riley said.
Over the years, the arena also hosted curling, figure skating, mixed martial arts and indoor soccer.
Now 40 years old, Riley played youth hockey at the arena when he was 4. That’s a testament to the legacy of the arena, but being in operation since 1961 has led to continuing maintenance issues.
“There’s a lot of old systems in there,” Riley said.
The building’s roof was damaged by the August 2020 derecho. The Polk County Assessor continued to rate the ice arena last year as in “below normal” condition. The almost 5 acres of land the arena stands on was worth more than $1.6 million in 2025, but the building was only assessed as worth $100.
And the mechanical issue in 2024 that affected the ability to make ice has meant the team had to bring in a mobile chiller on a trailer. That has cost $250,000 over the past two years, said Eric Grundfast, the Buccaneers’ president of business operations.
“We’ve been running at a loss for Bucs Arena since we took over the organization,” Grundfast said.
The team said in a news release in August 2024 announcing their then-temporary move to the RecPlex it would work to make the Urbandale arena operational again until it was “no longer sustainable to do so.”
The decision to close the arena was made about two weeks ago, Grundfast said. The last time there was ice was March 8, he said.
“There’s a reason why a lot of private entities don’t run and maintain hockey rinks,” due to the cost of upkeep, he said.
What is the future of the Buccaneer Arena property?
Grundfast said Tuesday, May 5 there was not yet a plan for the building and he declined to comment further on a possible timeline.
The Bucs will continue to play at the RecPlex on a year-to-year lease, and Grundfast said the team is working on an extended lease.
Shayne Ratcliff, general manager of the RecPlex, said, “We don’t anticipate them leaving and going anywhere.”
If the ice arena in Urbandale could be resurrected and operate again, “It needs to be city-owned and operated,” because there’s not a lot of money to be made as an ice arena, Riley said.
He said his organization has no other ice sheet options in the Des Moines metro beyond the RecPlex, which has been the Des Moines Youth Hockey Association’s primary home since the RecPlex opened in 2021.
“It’d be nice if other cities could see that and jump on that. I just don’t think Urbandale has an appetite for that,” Riley said.
The City of Urbandale did not immediately provide comment on May 5 about what it may want the future of the arena to be.
The Iowa Economic Development Authority approved in November 2025 for Merle Hay Mall to receive $26.5 million in state sales and hotel tax rebates that the city would use to finance bonds to back the construction of a hockey arena at the mall, located on the Urbandale-Des Moines boundary line. The Bucs previously pulled out of negotiations to be the main tenant of the Merle Hay arena.
The RecPlex has two ice sheets and is currently building a third. The new arena with seats for about 3,000 spectators, expanded overflow parking and more is expected to open Oct. 1, 2027.
Developers of the more than $80 million Iowa Sports Hub in Ankeny have also planned to include two indoor ice rinks for youth hockey. But construction of those spaces may not be until 2028.
How will Des Moines metro youth hockey cope with one less arena?
Riley said the Buccaneer Arena provided the third sheet of ice the Des Moines Youth Hockey Association could use, so losing it means one third less available ice time.
“Times could potentially look a little different as far as scheduling,” Riley said. There may need to be some early morning ice times, and there could be late evening options for older children.
With the RecPlex’s third sheet under construction, he said, “This is a one-season problem” for scheduling.
Phillip Sitter covers the suburbs for the Des Moines Register. Phillip can be reached via email at PSitter@usatodayco.com. Find out more about him online in the Register’s staff directory.
This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Longtime Urbandale hockey arena closes as others in metro move forward
Reporting by Phillip Sitter, Des Moines Register / Des Moines Register
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