Yoga and hockey to commingle in Kenilworth

Physical activity will soon have multiple meanings at Home Ice in Kenilworth.

The hockey-training facility is partnering with Toned Yoga to share the space at 624 Green Bay Road, the home of Home Ice since it relocated in 2022.

Kenilworth trustees approved the space-sharing request, which required an amendment to Home Ice’s special-use permit, during their meeting on Sept. 15.

The approval will allow for the second tenant, Toned Yoga, of Lake Bluff, as well as significantly increase the maximum number of users — from 18 or 26 (depending on time of day) to 45 — at one time.

Andrew Ratts — of Homemaker LLC, which owns the property — said in a letter to the Village of Kenilworth that Toned Yoga desires to be closer to its clients in the New Trier area.

He added that Toned Yoga held “test classes” at Home Ice over the summer and enjoyed “overwhelmingly positive results.”

Ratts also wrote that the additional facility users will not create a substantial impact on the area parking, citing the underuse of the facility’s flexible parking set up since Home Ice opened.

“We believe that generally allowing for 45 active participants reasonably allows us to optimize the use of the facility, while not causing any parking issues,” he said. “If any problems arise, we will work quickly to address them. We think we have been good neighbors and want to continue to be.”

The number of allowed facility users has changed multiple times since Home Ice’s first Village-approved request in 2021. In previous versions of the permit, the maximum usage was staggered by time of day with more users allowed in the early-morning and evening hours.

When first considering Home Ice’s plans four years ago, Kenilworth officials expressed concern over congestion in the area, which is the town’s primary business corridor and walking distance to Joseph Sears School and New Trier High School.

In a memo to trustees prior to the Sept. 15 meeting, however, Kenilworth staff wrote that Home Ice was the subject of just two complaints since 2022 — one relating to idling cars and another regarding noise. Neither complaint amounted to punitive action.

Additionally, staff said, Kenilworth police reviewed parking “on multiple occasions” at the site, finding that when the business was open ample parking was routinely available near the facility on Green Bay Road and in the facility’s lot.

The Village also noted that Sears School parking is now available in the nearby Metra lot, further easing any parking demands along Green Bay Road.

“The property owner has demonstrated that onsite parking can be made available to accommodate the increase in active participants,” the staff recommendation says. “… It is anticipated (Home Ice’s) requests will have a negligible impact on the area.”

With Toned Yoga, the building’s interior reportedly will be divided into two spaces — a temporary wall in between — with approximately 2,000 square feet in the southeastern corner dedicated to Toned Yoga.

Toned Yoga is a boutique fitness studio in Lake Bluff opened by Rob and Maddie Zonino in 2023. The studio offers a variety of classes, from interval and strength training to pilates and yoga.

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