Kraken Community Iceplex turns 5: three rinks and 1.1 million visitors a year in Seattle

Seattle is celebrating this week: the Kraken Community Iceplex opened its doors exactly five years ago, on 10 September 2021, in the Northgate district. The NHL club built it entirely with its own money — 90 million dollars for a 172,000-square-foot complex (about 16,000 m²) housing three NHL-size rinks under one roof.

The venue broke a four-decade drought: it was the first permanent indoor rink with public access to open in Seattle in more than 40 years. Today it welcomes around 1.1 million visitors annually — youth and amateur hockey, figure skating, public sessions, curling, broomball, birthday parties and corporate events. It doubles as the training headquarters of the Kraken and of the Seattle Torrent, the PWHL women’s team that debuted in the 2025–26 season.

The rink anchored the redevelopment of the old Northgate Mall next to the light-rail station, and the whole neighbourhood has changed around it. To mark five years, management rolled out the “$5 Skate for 5 Years” promotion — public skating for five dollars — plus new Learn to Skate classes for all ages this autumn.

For anyone planning a facility, the message is that constant year-round community use is what keeps a rink profitable. Napapiri has been building, renting and selling real-ice rinks for more than 30 years — the expert since 1993 — and we know ice quality and dependable refrigeration are what bring visitors back season after season. Source: NHL.com / Seattle Kraken.