MASON CITY, Iowa – The North Iowa Bulls’ first home game in downtown Mason City is next Saturday, and the team is anxiously anticipating skating onto the Mason City Arena ice for the first time against the Alexandria Blizzard. The team will hold a ribbon-cutting ceremony on Saturday, December 28 at 6 p.m., in front of the arena’s main entrance on the south side of Southbridge Mall.
Ticket sales at the arena box office inside the lobby will begin immediately following the ribbon-cutting. Team players and coaches will take part in the ceremony, as well as members of the Bulls’ ownership and executive team. Mason City civic dignitaries have also been invited to take part in the ribbon-cutting. Bulls officials were invited to participate in the arena’s official unveiling, which took place on the morning of Friday, December 13.
“To have an arena to this scale in Mason City is exciting,” said North Iowa Bulls director of business operations Kathee Corsello. “The short amount of time between groundbreaking and the first hockey game is impressive. We know our fans are going to come to love our new home. The new arena will provide many opportunities and experiences that simply weren’t available at the ‘Barn.’”
The completion of the new Mason City Multipurpose Arena represents the first major milestone in the much-anticipated River City Renaissance project, as the team moves out of its longtime home in the North Iowa Ice Arena. The arena locally known as the “Barn” hosted junior hockey for 30 of its 36 seasons after opening at the North Iowa Events Center in 1983. The Bulls are looking to recapture the NA3HL attendance title after winning that title in each of the team’s first seven seasons on the ice.
Tickets remain available for the team’s downtown opener against Alexandria, which will be the first spectator event in the new facility. Fans are encouraged to purchase tickets in advance by clicking here or calling the team office at 641-423-4625, and to #JoinOurStampede by following the team on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube. The puck drops on North Iowa’s tenure in downtown Mason City at 7:30 p.m.