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USICERINKS.COM SEPTEMBER.OCTOBER.2020 / 21 ber of roles such as a volunteer hockey coach and director. While spending hours on end at Chaparral, Raya started wondering about the ownership and the potential of this facility. Between 2015 and 2016, the wheels started to turn. Soon, he began putting together proposals so he could take over ownership of the facility. "I knew that without Chaparral, people would have to go to College Station or San Antonio to find another rink," Raya said. "I knew this could succeed in a metro area with 2.6 million people. It just needed some love and direction." Raya began drafting business plans and worked to secure the funds to buy the facility. As someone with previous experi- ence in fields such as project management, he felt as if he was prepared to take on ownership of Chaparral. The next step came in Raya securing funds from investors, where a number of people jumped at the opportunity to pro- vide ice in the region. Eventually, Raya submitted the proposals and offer to the general manager and rink ownership. He finally took ownership of the facility on January 15, 2017. Fixing things up With money being invested into the facil- ity and a new owner, the work began on expanding Chaparral's footing in Austin. The next step in this process came in the form of upgrading the worn-down Northcross mall location to make it a go-to destination. In 2018, the facility underwent a $700,000 facelift with that money going toward renovating the ice sheet and the concession stand. At that point, the facility was seeing about 70,000 visitors per year while the facility was being used 19-20 hours per day. Despite having a well-run facility with a high number of visitors, Raya and others at Chaparral were not quite done yet expanding. "We did that renovation as a case study," Raya said. "If you made a nice facility with upgrades that people would come." Not just ice With the Northcross mall revamped and attracting so many visitors, Raya and some of the investors in the arena turned their sights toward building a second Chaparral location. This was something Raya envisioned when he first purchased the original facility. "When you're in a non-traditional mar- ket, you have to sell your customers on hockey, curling or figure skating," Raya said. "You have to expose them to it." Going off of that theory, Raya's vision for this second facility was more than just sheets of ice. This facility was going to have something to offer for anyone in the area wanting to do a number of dif- ferent activities. "We wanted to a multi-sport, multi- entertainment facility that could be a family destination," Raya said. "We wanted a safe space for people to hang out all day every day and provide an opportunity for all interests." On May 22, 2019, Raya's vision began to come to fruition as the construction of Chaparral Ice at the Crossover began. During the next 16 months, work was being put in to complete this large and comprehensive project. Inside this new facility, which is free- standing compared to the first location inside of a mall, there are two NHL- sized rinks. Each rink is set to house a number of sports. One in particular, however, was built with sled hockey and wheelchair curling in mind and is completely handi- cap-accessible. I KNEW THIS COULD SUCCEED IN A METRO AREA WITH 2.6 MILLION PEOPLE. IT JUST NEEDED SOME LOVE AND DIRECTION. , In 2018 the facility underwent a $700,000 facelift with improvements to the ice and concessions area.