They have big plans for their rink, which they see as an important part of the community.
Canadian national Brian Graham, who has lived in Bermuda most of his life, broke his retirement to buy the rink with his sons Ted and Daniel.
Brian, who since 2004 has owned a house in Christchurch with his wife, moved to Queenstown last November.
Ted worked at the Queenstown Ice Rink during the 2007 winter season and since then the family had discussed the possibility for taking it over.
"Ted had been told the owner was interested in selling, so we started looking into the possibilities. But it was only when he was back working as a manager for the ice rink last year that our plans started to take shape," Brian said.
After lengthy negotiation, the family bought the business, on leased land, for an undisclosed price less than two weeks ago.
The Queenstown Lakes District Council administers the land on behalf of the Crown, and the 2522sq m facility is subject to both rent and rates.
The previous owners had been granted rates exemption.
In February, the Graham family addressed the council's finance committee to express their interest in the lease, and committee chairman Cr John S.
Wilson said the final details of the arrangement were still before the council.
The Grahams will pay a percentage of their gross revenue as rent, but have requested a five-year exemption to the rates payment.
Brian said that arrangement would give them a chance to get the business up and running profitably.
As a first step, the family has substantially lowered the price for the season passes.
Day pass prices remain at last year's level, except for children of 4 years or younger, who now skate for free.
"The most important thing for us is to get more people involved and increase our membership," Ted said.
"An investment like this is always a risk, but we are cautiously confident about the profitability of this business," Brian said.
The rink is the home base for both the Queenstown Ice Skating Club and the Queenstown Ice Hockey Club, which has several high-profile members representing Queenstown in local and national tournaments or on the national teams the Ice Blacks (NZ men's team) or the Ice Fernz (NZ women's team).
Queenstown Ice Hockey Club president Ken Tisdall said there had been concern about the future of the facility.
"Our club is pretty pleased a sale has finally gone through. Hopefully, the new owners will be able to run the place in a good way. They seem enthusiastic about the place, and bring in some new energy. "We are very happy to see our home facility retained.
"We have a strong club here, and have also worked with a large number of `at risk' children, who might have been getting into trouble, if we did not have the ice rink."
Cr Wilson agreed the facility was important for the community.
"Every sports arena in town reaches an important group of young people, and the ice rink is also well used by the local schools.
The new owners seem committed to improving the facility," Cr Wilson said.
The family took over the rink just a few days before the quiet opening last Monday, and only had time to freshen up paint and signs inside.
They acknowledge the effort previously put into the place.
"The previous owners are good people, who put a lot of work into the place over the years. Yet, they had to focus on keeping costs down, just to keep the place open, and not much had been done to upgrade the facility in the past couple of years," Brian said.
Ted said the next step would be to upgrade the lounge area, and they hoped to install a fireplace at the rear wall.
"We want to create a warm and welcoming atmosphere where people feel like staying a little longer. Minor upgrades with insulation will help to create the pleasant atmosphere and also lower our operations costs," he said.
Looking further ahead, Brian said they would consider applying for consent for a cafe to be located at the outdoor patio upstairs, facing the Queenstown Gardens.
Daniel said they had not yet decided on a new trading name for the rink, previously the Queenstown Fun Centre.
"We will be working on our marketing, and the name will be part of this. In the meantime we welcome our members and visitors to approach us with their suggestions."
