"It's going to be a very active area now, with the hockey arena, and the courts complex and soccer housed right next to each other," Billings Parks and Recreation Facilities Supervisor Chris Martin said shortly before the new indoor courts opened. He was right. The posted schedules also show that the two new buildings are busy at different times. Over the course of a week, the Courts Complex is open to the public on weekdays. Signal Peak Energy Arena saves its biggest nights for Friday and Saturday. And the Saturday crowds were planned with visiting teams in mind.
Both buildings opened within four days of each other this July. Signal Peak Energy Arena held its public opening weekend July 17 through 19 and drew thousands of visitors for hockey, skating and tours. The Courts Complex at Amend Recreation Campus, which the city shortens to ARC, opened July 21. The ARC homepage still says the building is "set to open its doors August 2026." That line is out of date. With October starting this week, the first full indoor season is getting underway, and planning a visit means knowing whose schedule each day follows.
The courts building closes to drop-ins on weekends
The Courts Complex covers roughly 57,000 square feet and holds about 48,000 square feet of continuous court flooring. That floor can hold up to eight volleyball games, eight youth basketball games or 12 pickleball games at the same time. The city's posted schedule lists general business hours from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday, and court rental hours from 5 to 10 p.m. On Saturday and Sunday the building hosts scheduled tournaments and events only. Open play is first-come, first-served, and it depends on how much space is left after reservations. The city points visitors to its live calendar for current programming. The building also has a walking track.
There are no memberships. Martin said access would come through punch cards and daily drop-in fees. The posted rates are low. Children 4 and under are free. Ages 5 to 17 pay $3, ages 18 to 54 pay $5, and ages 55 and up pay $4. The 11-punch passes cost $30, $50 and $40 for those same three age groups. Each pass works out to 11 visits for the price of 10.
The weekend calendar already shows what those Saturdays are for. The ARC calendar lists the Special Olympics Regional Basketball Tournament on Saturday, October 24. The KOA Kickoff Volleyball Tournament fills December 5 and 6 with women's, co-ed recreational and co-ed competitive divisions.
The ice picks up where the courts leave off
Next door, the Billings Cattle Punchers begin their first season in the North American Hockey League's new Mountain Division. An April announcement first placed the expansion franchise in the NCDC. The NAHL then approved Billings' membership on June 12. The home opener is this Friday, October 2, at 7:05 p.m. against Grand Junction, with a second game against the same team on Saturday.
The team's posted home schedule follows the same weekend rhythm the courts building leaves open.
| Month | Posted home dates | What the days fall on |
|---|---|---|
| October | 2, 3, 16, 17, 18 | Two Friday-Saturday pairs, plus Sunday the 18th |
| November | 6, 7, 13, 14 | Back-to-back Friday-Saturday weekends |
| December | 11, 12, 17, 18, 19, 31 | Weekends, a Thursday-to-Saturday run, and New Year's Eve |
| January | 1, 2, 8, 9, 28, 29, 30 | New Year's Day weekend and a Thursday-to-Saturday close |
| February | 19, 20, 26, 27 | Two Friday-Saturday pairs |
The Marquee Rink holds 2,000 spectators, with 1,200 fixed seats. The team sells tickets through Ticketmaster. Neither the team nor the arena had posted a single-game price or a fixed game-night parking plan as of this writing. The arena says parking guidance varies by event and directs visitors to current event information and posted signs.
On days without a game, the arena's second sheet, the Larson Practice Rink, gives the building room for more than one activity at a time. The Yellowstone Ice Foundation offers public skate sessions, weekly Learn to Skate classes for ages 4 and up with adult classes too, youth hockey through the Billings Amateur Hockey League, and scheduled adult and youth open hockey and Stick & Puck. Public skate costs $13 for adults, $10 for ages 6 to 17, $9 for seniors 65 and up, and $7 for veterans, active military and first responders. Children 5 and under skate free. A parent-plus-child ticket is $20 and a family-of-four ticket is $35. Skate rental is $5, a skate aid is $10, and the building is cashless.
That price gap shapes how a family can use the campus. Two adults and two school-age kids would pay $16 for drop-in court time at ARC. The same group would pay $35 to skate, plus $20 for four rental pairs. The ice costs more and runs on posted sessions. The courts cost less but are only open to drop-ins on weekdays.
Why the weekends were planned around visitors
The weekend schedule follows the reasons the campus was built. Martin said the courts project grew out of a community needs assessment from about a decade ago, which found a shortage of indoor court space. He also said he expects the building to become a destination for tournaments that bring sports tourism and spending to the area around Amend Park. He named cheer, dance, gymnastics and wrestling as groups that have shown interest in holding competitions there.
The financing points the same way. The Billings Gazette reported that the South Billings Urban Renewal Association's public-private campus plan covers the indoor courts, the ice arena, outdoor turf fields and future "pad sites." It also reported $4.6 million in South Billings district TIF funding toward the arena. Private donors had raised $16 million of the arena's $17.5 million cost by opening weekend. Foundation treasurer Alex Picicci said whoever gives the remaining $1.5 million could have the larger rink named after them.
Nearby businesses were watching too. In June, KTVQ spoke with Cathy Cullen-Kuhr, sales director at the Hampton Inn at 5110 Southgate Drive, who expected hotel occupancy to rise. James and Miranda Duncan, co-general managers of Lava Island, expected more visibility and more visitors. The same report noted that Maple Moose and El Buen Sazón had opened on the South Side within the previous year. El Buen Sazón is a family-run restaurant on State Street that KTVQ profiled in April. Those were expectations stated before the buildings opened. No one has yet published figures showing what the first months actually brought.
A weekday at Amend, using the posted schedules
The weekend draws the crowds, but the weekdays are when the courts are open to anyone who walks in. A Tuesday visit could look like this:
- Check the ARC live calendar in the morning. Drop-in court space depends on reservations, and the city says services can be reduced when it is short on staff.
- Play a pickleball or basketball session, or walk the indoor track, during the 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. general hours, using a punch pass.
- Check the arena's live schedule for a public skate, Stick & Puck or open hockey slot before driving over. The foundation's own pages say to confirm session times before you travel.
- If a court rental fits a group better than drop-in, the 5 to 10 p.m. weekday block is the time set aside for rentals.
When the Cattle Punchers have a Thursday home game, such as December 17, December 31 or January 28, a weekday court session and an evening game fall on the same day.
What is approved but not yet built
Some of the campus is still unfinished. On September 28, City Council voted 10 to 0 to approve a Musco Lighting contract for the Amend Park soccer fields. Amend Park is already listed as Billings' largest soccer complex, so lights would give those fields more usable hours. On September 14, Council voted 11 to 0 to accept Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks grant funding to rehabilitate the Amend Park North Trail. Both votes approve funding. No construction timeline has been published for either project.
Inside the arena, Archie's Alehouse is planned as a second-floor family sports bar and restaurant overlooking the rink, developed by Jase Muri. KTVQ reported in July that it was due to open in September. As of September 30, no report had confirmed that it opened. Until one does, the arena's upstairs restaurant is still a plan.
For now, the courts are open on weekdays and the hockey games fill most Fridays and Saturdays through the end of February.
If the new campus has you rethinking your weeknights in Billings, or you're considering a move closer to the South Side, Suzie Countway would be glad to talk through how Amend Park fits the way you live. Let's Connect.
