A four-sheet ice arena backed by former Columbus Blue Jackets All-Star Cam Atkinson has received local government approval in Delaware County, becoming the first approved project inside Maridel, a proposed 258-acre mixed-use development planned for the intersection of U.S. Route 42 and Sawmill Parkway. Maridel Properties announced the approval on November 4, according to Youth Sports Business Report, which reported the details of the developer’s announcement.
The arena will house The Battery Hockey Academy, founded by Atkinson, a 13-year NHL veteran, alongside the Ohio AAA Blue Jackets, the Tier 1 youth program led by Ed Gingher. Maridel Properties said the facility is designed to serve as an elite training headquarters for both programs while also making central Ohio a destination for regional and national youth hockey tournaments, according to the announcement reported by Youth Sports Business Report.
Programming at the arena is planned to extend well beyond the two anchor programs. According to Maridel Properties, the facility will accommodate youth hockey, tournament play, adult hockey, figure skating and public skating, with dedicated performance training spaces, team facilities and full-service hospitality and concessions included in the plans.
Bruce Daniels of Maridel Properties said the company sees sports and youth development as the core of its philanthropic mission and described the arena as a way to build skills, character and confidence in the next generation, both on and off the ice, Youth Sports Business Report reported from the developer’s announcement. The site sits between Marysville, Delaware and northern Columbus, in a corridor Maridel describes as one of Ohio’s fastest-growing.
The arena is intended as the opening anchor of the much larger Maridel community. Maridel Properties describes the full 258-acre project as a master-planned, mixed-use development integrating sports, entertainment, dining, retail, hospitality and public gathering spaces, with the ice arena serving as the initial catalyst for everything that follows on the site.
Several major details remain undisclosed. Maridel Properties did not release a construction budget, a financing structure, seat counts, sheet dimensions or an opening timeline, and the announcement describes the project as a public-private collaboration without naming a public partner or detailing any public funding, according to Youth Sports Business Report.
What happens next is phased site work. Maridel Properties says additional architectural renderings, infrastructure plans and commercial partnership announcements will be released as that work begins, and the developer has launched a portal at maridel.com where tournament organizers and prospective commercial partners can review project plans.