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SANDY — The Shops at South Town will soon be home to an NHL training facility.
The Smith Entertainment Group announced Monday that it is buying the Sandy mall and will build the team's practice facility on the 111-acre site. The facility will include two NHL regulation rinks and the team offices. It's expected to be completed for the 2025-26 season.
The Shops at South Town will still serve as a public mall.
"We've had a look at all the Jazz facilities and all the facilities here and it's incredible what they've done," general manager Bill Armstrong said last month. "And we're looking forward to the day that's all finished for us."
The new facility will also accommodate community hockey programs and provide ice time for youth and amateur hockey and recreation.
SEG said public-accessible spaces will include a public entrance, NHL team store, locker rooms, elevated seating around both rinks, and other multipurpose spaces for community programming.
"We completely support SEG's vision for this project and look forward to inviting the community in to practice and play at the hockey training facility when this important resource is introduced to our community," Sandy Mayor Monica Zoltanski said in a statement.
The Smith group said it "is committed to ensuring The Shops at South Town continue to be a vibrant and integral part of the community, and the NHL practice facility is an important first step towards this goal."
That clears up where the team will be training in the future, but what about this season?
SEG said it is still working with local partners to find a practice location to use during the 2024-25 season, but plans have yet to be finalized.
"We just need ice," Armstrong said. "Whether it's here (at the Delta Center) or it's at one of the practice rinks. As long as we have ice, we're good and we have that availability. There are rinks here; we're in good shape that way. There are a million different ways that we can do it. I'm pretty confident in our group."
As for the Delta Center and surrounding area, SEG will present its plans for the revitalization district to the Salt Lake City Council on Tuesday.
