Ice Arena Restaurant Scores with Haas Door Products

He shoots — he SCORES! We hear that all the time when watching ice hockey games. But it’s the guests at WOW Café at Arrington Ice Arena who score when viewing the competition from rink-side seats.

Guests get “up close and personal” by viewing the games through open Haas Door garage doors in the restaurant. During every game the doors are opened to allow guests to easily watch game action move from one end of the ice to another.

“With the garage doors in the open position people have unobstructed views of the games,” says Christopher Stiver, director of plant facilities with Adrian College , owners of the Arrington Ice Arena on the Adrian, Michigan campus. “There are six Haas Door Commercial Aluminum fullview garage doors in the restaurant that allow restaurant guests to have full views of the action.”

Up Close Action
Opened in 2012, the WOW Café was a welcome addition to Arrington Ice Arena. The facility hosts ice hockey games, synchronized skating events, open skating for the community plus classes in both ice skating and ice hockey. Always an active location, the arena has been open since 2007 and seats 500 people.

When the WOW Café was designed, the contractors brought in Overhead Door of Toledo to install the six Haas Door garage doors. With most of the seating against an open bar facing the ice (where the garage doors are open to the arena), restaurant guests have a close view of the action.

“The garage doors definitely have held up very well and fulfill a specific need in this restaurant,” says Stiver. “When closed, they accent the restaurant design. And when open during games, they provide diners with a connection to the activities on the ice.”

Adrian College President, Jeffrey R. Docking, grew up in ice arenas since his early years and raised three children who played hockey. He describes himself as a rink rat having been in hundreds of arenas in his life.

“These garage doors are one of the most unique features I have ever seen in an ice arena,” says Docking. “People love them. Spectators get the best of two worlds: when the doors are closed, restaurant patrons enjoy a warm, quite, atmosphere similar to other wingeries with delicious food. But, when the doors are open, fans have the best seat in the house directly above the benches. They’re able to enjoy the action and excitement on the ice through an experience unmatched at any other arena I have visited.”