Keeping Things Kool at the Kalkaska Kaliseum

Dec. 4, 2015

Looking for something fun to do this winter that doesn’t involve being subjected to the weather? Take a drive over to the Kalkaska Kaliseum; the recreational facility offers a range of sporting activities, even the kind that take place on ice.

SUPER DIRECTOR

The guy overseeing the fun at the Kaliseum is Alan “A.J.” James. A 35-year veteran of the motorcycle industry, James started his career at a motorcycle shop in Ann Arbor and moved to Traverse City in 1978, where he worked at Grand Traverse Honda and Suzuki, now Great Escapes. In 1996, he moved to South Boardman and founded A.J.’s Bike Barn — and through it all, he played hockey. Little did he know that all of his skills would one day be combined in Kalkaska.

ZAMBONI OPPORTUNITY

“I went to the Kaliseum one day to play hockey and they couldn’t get the Zamboni (the machine that cleans the ice) to work,” James explained. “I helped out that day and then a few other times with some more mechanical stuff.”

One day, they asked if he’d like to drive the Zamboni.

“I said, ‘I’m an American male, don’t I look like I want to?’” James joked. One thing led to another and he went from Zamboni driver to ice-side supervisor to maintenance supervisor. When the director position opened up, he had three years of experience at the Kaliseum and was a natural fit for the job.

“That was in July 2008 and I’ve been director ever since,” he said.

PLENTY OF CHOICES

As director, James has a good handle on his duties.

“I work with the employees, keep everyone safe and keep the experience good for all of our customers,” he said.

There are a lot of experiences to manage.

The Kaliseum has an NHL regulation-size ice rink that transforms into a roller rink in the summer months, two full-sized swimming pools (one for leisure swimming, the other for exercise, including aqua aerobics classes), a full fitness gym, a concession stand, a large lot outdoors used for summer activities and a selection of coin videogames.

HEART OF HOCKEY

The hockey events are closest to James’ heart.

“We have our own youth hockey team, the Rhinos, and we offer both adult and youth hockey,” James explained. “Adult hockey players actually form their own teams and private leagues, and those play here. We also have drop-in hockey Wednesday nights, which may be expanding to two nights a week in the winter, and stick and puck.”

Those who prefer their skating sans stick can enjoy the open skate, but “lots of our rink activities do revolve around hockey, though,” James confirmed. “Hockey is huge!”

SKATING SPECIALTIES

If open skating is more your style, the Kaliseum offers it on weekends (see the website for schedule). The cost is $4 for Kalkaska County residents, $5 for out-of-county guests and $2 for skate rental. They also hold laser light skating nights called Arena Borealis, with strobe and colored lights.

“Those lights just make me queasy,” James chuckled, “but people really like it!” His favorite open skate activity is the Kaliseum’s Moonlight Skate, which takes place once a month on the weekend closest to the full moon. “We shut all the lights off except for background lighting, play music and open the arena’s end doors to the great outdoors,” James explained. “We set some carpet out there and set up a bonfire for light and roasting marshmallows. That’s the nicest event because it represents that feeling of skating on a pond in the country at night when you were a kid.”

SUMMERTIME FUNTIME

The Kaliseum’s specialty is obviously winter activities, but don’t count them out in the summer. They remove the ice from the rink in the spring, which makes room for a whole new brand of fun.

“We work ‘Egyptian labor style,’ lots of people all working together,” James explained. “We shut the machinery off so the ice starts to melt, break up and float. Then we all use squeegees and shovels to push the ice and water down the drains and out the door.”

Once the ice is out of the way, the cement pad beneath is cleaned and dries in a couple of days, ready to welcome back open roller skating and the Kalkaska roller derby team, The Small Town Outlaws.

THE GOOD OLD DAYS

Other non-winter activities include pickleball, which James explained is, “… kind of like tennis or badminton on a 44-foot-long court, played with a wiffleball and a pingpong paddle on steroids.”

There’s also a summertime antique and custom motorcycle show and, in the fall, gymnastics, dance and martial arts classes. Part of the facility can even be rented out for special events.

For James, the variety is part of the Kaliseum’s appeal; he strives to remind people that sporting and active events should be an important part of everyone’s life.

“The world’s gone sideways to me,” he explained. “I grew up in the ‘60s and ‘70s and, when I was a kid, ice skates were standard issue. Now, none of these kids own skates, they all rent, but they carry expensive cell phones in their pockets. Our programs help keep people moving in a world where everything’s digital and you sit down inside for everything. You’ve got enough TV and electronics waiting at home. My goal is to get people back into the physical world.”

For more information on memberships, costs, fees and schedules, visit kaliseum.com.