02-09-2011 ICE MIN - Laserfiche WebLink

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discontinues the production of Freon by 2020 which will mean it will become increasingly more expensive to run the systems that we have after that. New arenas are typically going with ammonia systems, which would cost about $2million and would require that the current barn floor be removed. He notes that the Olympic (sand floor) would not be as big of a deal, and that there would be an energy savings with ammonia and we would only need 1 plant to run both rinks. Czech also notes that we need feedback from Youth Hockey and The Figure Skating Club as to what a remodeled arena could do for them. Kristina Hefty, Elk River Skating Academy Coach, states that with a larger lobby/expansion, they could host competitions and test sessions, and would use even more ice in the summer. DeAnn Givens, Elk River Skating Academy Coach/ERFSC adds that the current facility could not accommodate a competition. Brad Hansen, Elk River Figure Skating Club President notes that competitions are usually weekend events beginning on Friday mornings thru Sunday evening with people constantly coming and going on both sheets. Money would come in from concessions, and in addition, typically vendors are brought in by the club. Hansen equates it to a hockey tournament as far as the number of people it can potentially bring in. However it requires a room far the judges, and a large area for people to congregate. Commissioner Malzahn notes that once the word gets out that an arena is a nice place to play, hockey players and figure skaters alike will want to come, which helps bring revenue into the community. Commissioner Gumphrey inquires about what we are going to present to the council about the "need" to get a new barn. Arena Manager Czech states the age of the building is a factor, as well as the ceiling, the dehumidifier (not big enough and blows into bleachers), ADA disability issues, Code Issues with stairs, and a new furnace is needed. Because of the number of issues, it will continue to cost the city money over the next several years, a remodel could take care of all of the issues at once. City Councilmember Matt Westgaard also notes that regardless of whether the renovation addition moves forward or not, having completed plans is not a waste of money, as they can be shelved for a future date. He suggests putting the district's grant writer to work- noting that we can't talk about fundraising, etc until we know how much money is needed.