KJ’s Ice Barn, a new ice rink facility being built in Enoch, expected to be finished in July

Written by Jeff Richards
February 18, 2024

ENOCH — A new indoor ice rink under construction in Enoch is on track to be completed in July.

Family members of the late Kerry Fain gather at KJ’s Ice Barn, Enoch, Utah, Feb. 9, 2024 | Photo by Jeff Richards, St. George News / Cedar City News

The privately owned facility, known as KJ’s Ice Barn, derives its name from the initials of Kerry Jo Fain, longtime hockey supporter who died on Jan. 13 at age 42 following a battle with cancer.

A dozen Fain and Rudd family members gathered at the rink construction site the afternoon of Feb. 9, a few hours before Kerry Fain’s public celebration of life memorial. While gathered, they talked to Cedar City News about the project.

Alyssa Fain, Kerry’s daughter, spoke of how her parents introduced her and her brothers to hockey while living in the Salt Lake area before moving to Cedar City about 15 years ago.

“It started 15, 16 years ago and it’s still going now,” Alyssa Fain said. “This rink is everything that she wanted, and she wanted it for us and not just her kids but all the kids that she adopted for the cause.”

Family members noted that Kerry Fain was able to tour the facility she long dreamed about one last time just a few days before she died. They plan to work diligently to see the project through this summer.

“She’d kick our butts if we didn’t,” Alyssa Fain said with a laugh.

KJ’s Ice Barn, a new indoor ice rink under construction, is expected to be finished by July, Enoch, Utah, Feb. 9, 2024 | Photo by Jeff Richards, St. George News / Cedar City News

“This rink is about more than just hockey,” she added. “It’s more than the cool things that we’re going to have. This is about family. And everything that she did was unconditionally with love, and creating a family and creating a beautiful community.”

Chad Fain, Kerry’s husband, talked of some of the main features and amenities, including gym equipment, pickleball courts, batting cages, video games, billiards, skate and equipment rentals and a concession stand.

Meanwhile, a company out of Pittsburgh called Everything Ice will install the ice system of the full-size hockey rink, which measures 185 by 85 feet, Chad Fain said.

“They’re the ones that do a lot of NHL rinks and the Winter Classic rinks and stuff like that,” he said. “So they’re a very professional company coming in to install the ice.”

They even managed to score a good deal on a Zamboni ice surfacing machine from the NHL’s Phoenix Coyotes, Chad Fain added.

Chad Fain looks over construction plans for KJ’s Ice Barn, a new indoor ice rink under construction in Enoch, Utah, Feb. 9, 2024 | Photo by Jeff Richards, St. George News / Cedar City News

“They only used that Zamboni for three years (for NHL games),” he said. “And then they parked it and used it once a year for Disney on Ice. So it has like 2,000 hours on it.

“The parts that are on the brand new ones today will fit on the Zamboni that we have,” he added. “So we basically have a brand new Zamboni that we picked up for seven grand, and it’s probably worth $60K. I got it on eBay.”

On one side of the rink will be bleachers with a seating capacity of 600, he added.

The rink is expected to attract hockey players of all ages, including boys and girls in youth leagues, along with high school and collegiate teams.

Alyssa Fain said several hockey teams from the Salt Lake area have already expressed interest in traveling to play in Iron County.

“It’s truly hard scheduling ice time up north right now,”  she said. “So they’ll be sending high school teams down every weekend or every other weekend to play our high school teams,” she said.

“The facility is going to be very nice,” she added. “They’re going to feel welcome and they’re going to be all right with making the travel.”

Shari Rudd, Kerry Fain’s sister, spoke of the entertainment opportunities that the new facility will bring.

“We’re going to give kids and adults in our community lots of opportunity to come and enjoy not just ice sports, but also other things,” she said. “We’re pretty excited to share that with everybody and to share this facility that Kerry worked so hard to bring to our community.”

Added Rudd:

It’s going to stimulate our economy. It’s going to give kids something to do instead of them going out and partying. They’re going to have something to come and do Friday nights and Saturday nights. Instead of, you know, putting themselves in bad situations.

When completed, the street address of KJ’s Ice Barn will be 5177 Blueberry Road, Enoch. For more information about the facility, visit KJ’s website or Facebook page.

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Copyright St. George News, SaintGeorgeUtah.com LLC, 2024, all rights reserved.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Jeff Richards, a native of Salt Lake City with family roots in Panguitch, lived in Moab for 20 years before joining St. George News in 2017. Jeff is a longtime journalist and secondary school teacher. He and his wife Penny are the parents of five daughters. They also have three young grandsons and one granddaughter. Jeff and his family enjoy swimming, camping, sightseeing, reading, and taking pictures.

Email: [email protected]
Twitter: @stgnews@moabjeff@stgnewssports

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