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$10 million gift from Larry Robbins for ice-rink complex
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$10 million gift from Larry Robbins for ice-rink complex

The foundation raising money for a Palm Beach Gardens ice-rink complex says it has raised $10 million from a single donor, surpassing a $6.5 million threshold required under its lease with the city for the 8.5-acre Plant Drive Park.

The Palm Beach North Athletic Foundation submitted documents showing a pledge of $10 million from billionaire hedge fund manager Larry Robbins, foundation President Mike Winter said. Robbins is a youth hockey supporter who owns a home in the city and whose Longwood Hockey recently became managing partner of Palm Beach Ice Works.

Winter expects to have enough money by June 2025 to obtain financing to begin building the $40 million complex, as required in the 40-year lease with the city.

Plans for the 123,000-square-foot building, which will hold two National Hockey League-size ice rinks for youth hockey, figure skating, public skating, adult leagues, curling and sled hockey, are expected to go before the city’s planning board in November and the City Council in December.

“It will be the nicest rink in the southern United States,” said Winter, who created the nonprofit foundation in 2017 to pursue the project as a community asset, reminiscent of the ice rink his father helped operate in the St. Louis suburb of Affton.

“When I see people say investors, developers, I’m not an investor, I’m a donor. Somebody did this for me when I was a kid. I’m trying to pass this forward.”

The facility will feature a full-service restaurant, a store, training space and an academy with support from the New York-based Hospital for Special Surgery, which has offices in West Palm Beach and Wellington, the foundation said in a press release.

It will have “the capacity to host regional, national, and international events that will bring a significant economic impact to Palm Beach Gardens,” the press release said.

Hockey legend Wayne Gretzky has committed to operate a Gretzky Hockey School, which he founded in 2014 with his son, Ty Gretzky. They both have homes in the area.

Another supporter is insurance broker NFP, which has offices on PGA Boulevard. The company pledged $1.25 million in June 2022 and supported initiating a hockey program created by hockey Hall-of-Famer Pat LaFontaine.

Robbins, of Glenview Capital Management, is a former owner of the Chicago Steel, a junior hockey team. He is a former player and captain at the University of Pennsylvania and an 18-year youth coach at the North Jersey Avalanche. In February, he bought a home in Gardens’ Old Palm Golf Club community.


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