Twin Rinks now open

There are two NHL-size rinks in the Twin Rinks Ice Center in Eisenhower Park. The blue rink, above, seats 2,100.

Susan Grieco/Herald

The lobby of the Twin Rinks Ice Center features a fireplace with comfortable seating.

Susan Grieco/Herald

A smaller outdoor rink will be layered with ice once the temperature drops.

Susan Grieco/Herald

Arena officials plan to build a restaurant in this 10,000-square-foot space on the second floor.

Susan Grieco/Herald

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Attention, ice skaters of Nassau County: the Twin Rinks Ice Center, a two-story, 165,000 square-foot facility in East Meadow’s Eisenhower Park, is officially open for business. Actually, it has been since April, when work was completed on two indoor NHL-size rinks. A third smaller, outdoor rink will soon be layered with ice.

While there are many additions still to come, according to CJ Nizich, the facility’s marketing and events coordinator, it is now offering skating lessons for beginners, freestyle sessions and private training. It is also home to two hockey franchises, the New York Bobcats and the Long Island Gulls.

Nizich, who gave the Herald a tour of the facility on Nov. 5, said the Ice Center hosted its biggest events to date in September, when 600 athletes took part in the USHL Atlantic Challenge, a junior tournament that featured 50 games in a three-day span and drew 6,000 spectators. Two weeks later, figure skaters from across the country came to Eisenhower for the Ice Dreams tour — including Jason Brown, a bronze medalist in the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, and Oceanside native Samantha Cesario, an Olympic alternate and a regular visitor to Twin Rinks, Nizich said.

The facility is owned by Twin Rinks at Eisenhower LLC, headed by brothers Ronald and Joel Freidman, as a public-private partnership with Nassau County. Twin Rinks funded the construction, and the county will collect part of the proceeds. Former NHL players and twin brothers Chris and Peter Ferraro are also part owners.

In February 2013, when county and Twin Rinks officials broke ground on the Ice Center, the Ferraros said it was their vision to “change the landscape and the dynamics of Long Island hockey and sports” by bringing a world-class facility to Nassau County. As Nizich led the tour last week, detailing the multitude of upcoming events that were in the works, he reiterated that ambition. “For an ice rink on Long Island, this is off the charts,” said Nizich, 22, who grew up in Rockville Centre. “I’ve been playing hockey my whole life, and there’s nothing that compares to this.”