Children skate on the Belmont Complex ice rink last week during their ?power skate? lessons. The ice surface was built in 1967 and celebrates its 45th year in Kittanning this week.
by Jonathan Weaver
45 years ago, hockey was starting to take root in Pittsburgh sports.
It also made an impact on Armstrong County with the development of the Belmont Complex ice arena.
Director Gary Montebell was 13-years-old when his parents, Hugo and Anne Montebell, started the outdoor pool in 1960, and said the popularity led to the indoor rink.
?We had a huge amount of kids that would go skating on the pool in the winter-time. (Hugo) would come home on the weekends and shovel the pool off and we would have bonfires and skating ? it was packed. (Hugo) was saying ?Geez, this isn?t a bad idea? and that led to the ice rink,? Gary said.
Amateur hockey began at the East Franklin Township rink two seasons later, followed shortly by a travel season, featuring teams from as far away as Canada.
Over the years, Pittsburgh Penguins, Johnstown Jets and Butler High School players have also skated on the rink before it became home to the Armstrong School District teams. It was also at one time the home ice for Slippery Rock University and Indiana University of Pennsylvania.
The ice surfaces as seen in December 1967. (submitted) The smaller ice rink was eliminated during a 1989 renovation.
Until 1989, there were actually two ice surfaces in the building ? one larger rink and a smaller one for ?Learn to Skate? students. Kittanning Hockey Coach Jamie King remembered both and being afraid of skating on the larger one as a child.
Formerly a player for Armstrong Central, Owen said his players enjoy skating in-front of the local crowd and calling the Belmont Complex ?home-ice.?
?There?s a lot of different rinks ? a lot of nice rinks, some awful rinks you go to. The best part about the Belmont is it is ours,? King said. ?We skate there so much, play games there, it?s a few miles from my house ? I used to joke in high school that I should get any mail I get (at the Belmont) because I spent so much time there. (The Belmont Complex is) hard to play in, there?s no other rink with the overhang over your benches? all of that is what makes it my favorite place.?
The latest renovations ? in 1989 ? converted the complex to one rink.
Opening games for the Freeport Yellow Jackets and Kittanning Wildcats hockey teams were held last week, with both teams winning on their home ice. Kittanning won 12-5 over South Park.
Guest puck-droppers will be at the two home games this Thursday, November 8 to celebrate the anniversary. Those include Pennsylvania Interscholastic Hockey League Commissioner Ed Sam and original coaches from Ford City and Kittanning high schools.
The hockey games shortly after 6PM.
Complex officials will also offer $1 skating Saturday, November 10 from 1-2:15PM, as well as encourage participants to apply for prizes all week.
Families might remember seeing drive-in movies, Bishop Fulton Sheen or other industrial shows at the Belmot, which Gary said kept locals entertained and teenagers out-of-trouble.
?At that time, there wasn?t a lot in the area as far as activities or to see any conventions or shows. Pittsburgh, at that time, was about an hour and twenty minutes to get to ? it was miserable to get to with the roads,? Gary said.
The Armstrong Arrowettes figure skating precision team was also a main-stay at the Belmont for several years until it dissolved. Skating Coordinator Jayci Freelander was one of those skaters and, like Gary, hopes that interest continues to rise in the newer-Belmont Blaze team.
Freelander of Kittanning has coached for 27 seasons and has been skating with friends and neighbors at the Belmont since she was six-years-old.
The rink was privately-owned by the Montebell Family and a group of investors until the Armstrong County Recreation Authority officially bought the complex. Gary said his father had other offers to sell the property ? including to make the complex a religious assembly hall ? , but refused.
?He wanted the youth in the community to keep going,? Gary said.
Since the complex has been sold, four brick-and-mortar construction upgrades have occurred, including the current grant-funded project that has made the rink compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act, replaced dasher boards and upgraded the lighting.
During the next phase ? which is thought to go out for bid in January ? , locker rooms will be upgraded and the front entrance will be remodeled.
In the near-future, Gary hopes Belmont Complex staff can help develop an in-house hockey team. Younger athletes have sprouted thanks to the Little Penguins Learn to Play Hockey program ? which is sold out for this-coming January ? and young-Armstrong Arrows teams.
?Our younger programs have grown a lot in the past couple years, and that?s important,? Gary said. ?Now, the next challenge is to get the in-house program operating to help bridge the gap of the kids that never played and the kids that want to play but don?t have the experience yet.?
Two women?s teams in the Pittsburgh Amateur Hockey League will also use the Belmont for competition this season ? a 19-and-under and a 12-and-under team.
?The goal is to get more kids playing from a competitive standpoint and from a recreational standpoint,? Gary said.
Mimi Dusheck of Butler remembered attending the Belmont while her cousin, Reed Grenci , played hockey for Butler High School 20 years ago. She now brings her 12-year-old son, Taite, for private skate lessons weekly and said her three-year-old twins ? Trey and Talbot, named after former-Pittsburgh Penguin Maxime Talbot ? enjoy watching the sport.
She thinks ?Little Pens? has helped locally, and hopes the ice rink will eventually be open year-round instead of only in the winter.
?I think that brought a lot to the Belmont,? Dusheck said.
Eight Pittsburgh Vipers amateur hockey tournament games ? free for local residents ? will be enovation cycle.
held during Thanksgiving weekend at the complex.
Commissioner Bob Bower credited Hugo Montebell with teaching him to work hard as a teenager. Bower worked at the swimming pool until he was 19-years-old.
He remembered carrying cement blocks for the ice rink building.
?We really tout recreation and tourism as being the staple of the County. I think Hugo Montebell ought to be considered one of the founding fathers of recreation in Armstrong County ? he?s really one of the ones who put us on-the-map for recreation.?
Currently, the Recreation Authority maintains 24 staff at the Belmont -six full-time and 18 part-time.
Source: http://www.kittanningpaper.com/2012/11/05/belmont-complex-anniversary-celebration-this-week/31320
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