In the intervening 30 years municipal ice rinks have gradually shifted emphasis from providing recreational skating to participating in a much larger retail market of recreational, team, and competitive figure skating. The rink is subsidized for its operational and capital expenses just like the swimming pools. Requests for immediate repairs were presented. The larger question of the city’s involvement in this activity has to be confronted within the next few years because the facility needs rebuilding.
Since the rink hosts tournaments it attracts visitors to Lakewood from the Eastern United States and Canada.
For an Olympic moment, it will be noted that Winterhurst’s resident coach, Carol Heiss Jenkins (1960 Olympic medal winner) is coaching a skater from the Japanese national team. She hopes to compete in Turin, Italy and Lakewood hopes that her home rink will be associated with her name.
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I have three children who have all skated there over the years. There was/is a discount since we live in Lakewood. I have to wonder just what this discount has cost me. Stan mentions the numerous times Winterhurst is used by people from outside the area. I can verify this as my nephew, a hockey player from Michigan, has played in several tournaments at our ice rink. This is what brings up how we subsidize the businesses in Westlake.
The hockey teams and their families always book a block of hotel rooms in Westlake, along I-90. They drive into Lakewood, watch the games, hop right back onto I-90 and return to their hotels. They then proceed to drop thousands of dollars at the restaurants and bars in the vicinity of the hotels.
I have a couple of questions that I hope Stan can answer. First, how much do the taxpayers of Lakewood pay for operational expenses each year and what type of capital expense for improvements is expected. My other question is whether anyone can think of a Lakewood business that benefits from the out-of-towners visiting Winterhurst.
I only know that I have traveled to several different states for business as well as athletic events. In each case, the group I was with spent our dollars near the hotel we were at or near the place where we played. If we were able to hop right back on the highway, we would do that so that we were back close to the hotel in case we happened to have an adult beverage or two. At no time did any of us stop to think whether or not we were going from one city to another.
Before I step off the soapbox I will add a couple of disjointed thoughts along this line. First, if we are spending tens of thousands of dollars in capital improvements perhaps we could give Winterhurst to the Stan Austin/Jim O'Bryan company with a promise that they give Lakewood residents a break and that Lakewood would be re-imbursed for current value if they sell it. The plus to this is we would no longer have to subsidize the operational costs and we could even collect a few bucks for property tax. If no company would be interested in this then we may want to consider the value of expensive repairs.
Random thought #2 is that if we are to spend six figures or more to make a city facility nice for out-of-towners, why not increase the seating capacity at the LHS football stadium so that we can host more rounds of the state football playoffs. We could throw in an extra locker room and get St. Ignatius to sign an extended lease to play there. Ask a bar owner near the high school how they feel about the Ed's/Ignatius game and you will see their eyes light up. I think a conservative estimate would be $10K is spent in Lakewood on that night alone. (Not counting the money that the LHS boosters make on concessions at the game.)
My final thought is that although an expensive jewel is nice to have, I have to consider whether it is worth the trade off. How many streets could be re-paved or police cars purchased for what we are paying each year. I considered having a limo take my daughter to school every day but then I figured she would rather be able to eat every day and have a roof over her head.
