About Us
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We offer a wide variety of recreational spaces for activities to keep your family healthy and moving

For ice enthusiasts, we offer hockey, figure skating, and our popular Learn To Skate classes. Field sports participants can enjoy soccer, baseball/softball, flag football, or open turf times for tots and youth, as well as a pick-up game for adults. 

The two lane jogging/walking track around the turf provides a warm, slip-resistant track. Training, recovering from injury or surgery, or just working on being active and healthy, the McDonald Center offers a safe environment for walking or jogging your way to a healthy lifestyle. We also have a track located around the ice rink, offering views of the ice activities. This space is slightly chilly than the track around the turf. 

Our goal is to offer our local community a clean and safe place to recreate. We have a proud reputation for being one of the cleanest public recreational facilities in the state and we ask our patrons to help us keep it that way. We are excited to have our new turf addition up and running and to offer entirely new recreational opportunities to our great Eagle River/Chugiak community.

Mission Statement

To promote safe, quality, and educational opportunities and experiences by providing ice, turf, and track facilities to the Eagle River, Chugiak, and Anchorage communities seeking to improve their quality of life through recreation and sport.

Our History

The facility is owned by the Municipality of Anchorage and proudly managed by Fire Lake Arena Management, Inc. since 1984. Fire Lake Arena Management, Inc. is a non-profit company formed in 1983 solely to manage the McDonald Center

Fire Lake Recreation Center was constructed in 1984 as an ice venue for the Eagle River community. The facility later underwent a name change in 1994 to honor the late Harry McDonald, long time hockey coach at Chugiak High School, who lost his life in an airplane accident while scouting the nearby mountains for an upcoming hunting trip. 

The rink has undergone several renovations and updates over the years to include a new refrigeration unit, updated concrete slab, and a new board and dasher system. In 2014, the turf side extension was added to provide the outdoor field users an indoor opportunity through the winter months. Today the McDonald Center provides recreational opportunities to many youth and adult organizations to include the Mustang Hockey Association, Chugiak Soccer Club, Eagle River Hockey League, Chugiak Youth Sports Association, MacPac Figure Skating Club, and many more.



*NOTICE: The use of this facility is conditioned on customer’s express consent to the use of his/her likeness, without compensation, in connection with all of the facility’s advertising, promotional and marketing activities. If you would like to share your photos with our marketing team, please email info@mcdonaldcenter.net