BIDDEFORD — There were times when Earl Goodwin had his doubts. And who wouldn’t have?

After all, he’d been handed the keys to the doors of a rundown Biddeford Arena, and without so much as a minute of Zamboni time under his belt, was asked to turn the place into a community centerpiece.

“I said to myself, ”˜what have I gotten myself into,’” Goodwin admitted. “It was kind of overwhelming in the beginning.”

That was 25 years ago.

Since then, Goodwin, a Biddeford native, has guided the City-owned Arena to a place of prominence in Southern Maine.

A place where youngsters, thousands of them over the years under Goodwin’s watch, have laced ’em up.

A place where some of the best hockey players the state of Maine has ever produced took their first wobbly strides.

A place he’ll no longer be responsible for at the end of today.

Tonight, he’ll lock the door for the last time, jump into his truck ”“ the one with the familiar “ZAMBONI” license plate ”“ and ride off into retirement.

Officially, that is.

“I’ll be around if they need things done,” he said. “If they need information, it’s all up in my head.”

It’s information that Goodwin gained the hard way.

One Zamboni lap at a time.

“I had no experience in ice,” said Goodwin, who did have a lengthy history in personnel work from his days at Biddeford Textile Corp. “But I had experience in working around machinery, and supervising people. I was always a hands on person.”

That, at least gave him a running start. And he was going to need every tools in his belt to get BIA up to speed.

“When I got here, the place was in shambles,” he said. “No maintenance work had been done to the machinery or the compressors. It wasn’t the cleanest place in town. When I was hired, I was hired to run it like it was my business. And try to turn it around.”

In time, he did just that.

One by one, the compressors were overhauled, the old boards were turned to kindling, and the ancient gas guzzling Zamboni was replaced.

All the overdue improvements proved to be worth the investment.

Biddeford’s Learn to Skate program has put countless multitudes of girls and boys on blades for the first time.

“We have about 300 kids a year come in,” he said. “So you can multiply that.”

Under Goodwin’s watch, the Arena has been home to a veritable hockey boom.

Half a dozen high schools, as well as the University of New England, call the BIA home. Some of the most rousing schoolboy and schoolgirl games Maine has ever seen have been played under its beam-crossed roof.

Often in front of crowds that have had to wedge themselves into every inch of unclaimed space.

“It’s gratifying to see the little kids come in,” he said, “and watch them grow.”

He counts the back to back (2007, 2008) Class-A State championships won by Biddeford as being the highlight of his arena stewardship.

“I never thought I’d see the day,” Goodwin said, “that we would have a state champion out of here. To see Biddeford winning two years in a row, and to see them win 24 in a row, I don’t think we’ll see that happen again. That was an exceptional group of kids.

“The other gratifying thing is to see the (Biddeford High) girls program start to excel.”

Goodwin’s involvement in Southern Maine high school sports has extended well beyond the walls of the rink.

For three decades, Goodwin found time to referee basketball, officiate football, and umpire softball.

Although health issues, and not overzealous parents (“the kids are great, but the parents are nuts”), forced him to give up the whistle a few years back, he remains active by serving as an official MPA clock operator during football season.

And now that he has a little more time on his hands, he’ll be able to spend more time with his wife Stasia, and to putter around his place on Lake Ossipee.

He also plans to get serious with his golf game.

Perhaps most importantly, he’ll actually be able to sit and enjoy a full hockey game for a change.

“I’ll come in and see some of the games,” he promised. “I won’t stay away all the time.”

Goodwin said he’ll miss the relationships he fostered over the years with the community ”“ all the coaches, players, athletic directors ”“ but not having to run down to the Arena at 3 a.m. during a blizzard to tend to faulty compressor.

“I’ll leave it to the next person,” he said.

— Contact Dan Hickling at 282-1535 ext. 318 or dhickling@journaltribune.com.