Growing the Game
Dalton Buck, Mechanical Designer
Anyone who’s spent time at the Scheels IcePlex knows how tight things have gotten over the years. When the building opened, it had just enough to get by. Now—with youth hockey doubling from around 400 players to more than 800—space has been stretched to its limit. The new expansion finally brings the upgrades everyone’s been waiting for.
On the north side, a two story, 12,320 square foot addition will become the new home for Sioux Falls Youth Hockey. It includes varsity locker rooms for boys and girls, offices, storage, and a trainer’s room. Upstairs adds warmup and workout space, shooting lanes, a conference room, and a viewing area overlooking the north rink.
West Plains Engineering handled all the behind the scenes systems—HVAC, plumbing, electrical, lighting, fire protection, and technology upgrades—to tie everything smoothly into the existing building.
The design incorporates a roof mounted energy recovery unit paired with VAV boxes for better zone control, and increased air changes to help manage humidity and odors—something every hockey player knows is critical in gear heavy areas. The plumbing system adds a new domestic cold-water service, sanitary sewer, and storm piping, while extending natural gas from the existing building. These updated systems provide service to new fixtures, showers, floor drains, and mechanical rooms sized for higher occupancy loads and future expansion. Fire protection is also fully expanded, with the addition covered by a complete sprinkler system tied into the existing building and designed to NFPA requirements.
Electrically, the addition received new panelboards fed from the existing service, supporting lighting, mechanical equipment, receptacles, and future growth. All new spaces use LED lighting with automatic controls to meet current energy codes. Technology upgrades extended the existing telecom system into the addition.
At roughly $3.2 million, the project brings in amenities that didn’t fit the budget the first time around. For players, families, and the dozens of programs that call the IcePlex home, these additions mean better training spaces, locker rooms, and a facility that can keep up with Sioux Falls’ booming hockey community.
Dalton Buck, Mechanical Designer, Sioux Falls
Dalton Buck is a Mechanical Designer in Sioux Falls, SD, as well as a lifelong hockey player and fan. Dalton led the mechanical design for the IcePlex addition.
