The Observation Deck

The City of Lakewood issued the following press release today:


The FitzGerald Administration has reached a tentative agreement to lease Winterhurst Ice Rink to a private company. The agreement, which will be presented to Lakewood City Council at a Special Council Meeting on Friday, June 6, 2008, provides for Iceland USA to lease the Winterhurst facility for 5 years.

The terms of the agreement include:

•Iceland USA will invest approximately 1 million dollars in new improvements to the facility. The renovations will include new locker rooms, a new entranceway, new flooring and new boards and glass for the entire facility;
•The City will receive a $75,000 lease payment per year and 10% of the net profits from the facility;
•Iceland USA will absorb employee costs which will result in approximately 13 less employees on the city’s payroll;
•Iceland USA will be responsible for landscaping, snow removal and routine maintenance of the facility;
•Iceland USA will sponsor the 2008 Fourth of July fireworks display;
•Lakewood residents will continue to receive a resident discount.

Iceland USA currently manages the City of Strongsville’s ice rink facility. They also have an association with Quicken Loans Arena and the Cleveland Monsters hockey team.

“We are pleased we have reached a tentative agreement to lease the Winterhurst facility,â€￾ stated Mayor Edward FitzGerald. “This agreement will result in a savings to the city of approximately $1 million dollars over the course of the lease. The extensive renovations will also bring the facility up-to-date in a way the City could not afford.â€￾

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RENDERINGS OF THE IMPROVEMENTS TO WINTERHURST ARE AVAILABLE UPON REQUEST

*applause*

Sounds like a win-win!

Wow, that sounds like an amazing deal and a great solution to the Winterhurst dilemma.

almost sounds too good to be true, but I hope it is!

Melissa

Welcome to the Deck section of the Lakewood Observer, it was very nice to see your name pop up.

For those that do not know Melissa Garrett, she is the hardest working person at City Hall. Almost all of news and the enjoyable events on public property have benefited from Melissa Garrett's help. She is who has been posting the city's news releases directly to the LO since we started, and now, here she is on the Deck!

Melissa, welcome to the mosh pit of word jazz.




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This seems the perfect solution.

All those involved have done a great job. My only concern? If this is any example of how the City will be run for the next four years I am going to have to find a new hobby.

I have a hunch that the price of ice time will soon be going up. Perhaps dramatically. It seems like the needs of the city and of Iceland were addressed by the agreement. No mention of Winterhurst users though....

If so, that is fine. Users should pay what the market will bear and not be subsidized by Lakewood taxpayers. But I do hope that the folks who want to open skate now and then, and the kids who want to learn to skate, will still be able to.

Edited to add....

Seems to me that in an energy-challenged world the requirement that the ice be frozen but the building be reasonably warm and make the amenities available, well, that may not be affordable....

Renderings of the renovation from Iceland USA








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sounds like a good plan, however, did the city add any language to retain some sort of long term control?

I hope that in the event that the new owners were ever in a position to sell, that the City of Lakewood would have the right of first refusal or at least a minor controlling interest in the terms of transfer.

Let me know if they decide to put in an area for curling. That seems like the sport for me.

Bret Callentine wrote:sounds like a good plan, however, did the city add any language to retain some sort of long term control?

I hope that in the event that the new owners were ever in a position to sell, that the City of Lakewood would have the right of first refusal or at least a minor controlling interest in the terms of transfer.

Let me know if they decide to put in an area for curling. That seems like the sport for me.

Bret


I believe it is a lease not a sale.


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Years ago I heard that Winterhurst provided ice time at no cost to Lakewood Public schools organizations. The main beneficiary was the high school hockey team. That was in the good old days when students didn't have to pay to play. I don't know if that is still the case, as I understand the students now have to pay to play, but I suspect what they pay is not enough to get a decent amount of ice time. I no longer have kids in the program, so I don't know what the current status is.

So my question would be what the terms of the new lease are with respect to Lakewood public school teams. If the schools had free ice time, but now will have to pay, it would seem the city is solving its problem in part by dumping some costs onto the Board of Education, and I wonder if the Board would then terminate the hockey program.

Will Brown wrote:So my question would be what the terms of the new lease are with respect to Lakewood public school teams. If the schools had free ice time, but now will have to pay, it would seem the city is solving its problem in part by dumping some costs onto the Board of Education, and I wonder if the Board would then terminate the hockey program.

Possibly Lakewood could charge St. Eds for using Kaufmann Park and help offset any additional charges.

FWIW



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PUBLIC NOTICE
PLEASE POST

SPECIAL COUNCIL MEETING ---PLEASE POST

In accordance with Article III, Section 4., of the Second Amended Charter of the City of Lakewood, you are hereby notified that I am calling and there will be a Special Meeting of Council Monday, June 9, 2008 at 6:00 PM (Please Note this meeting was originally issued for 5:00 PM) in the Jury Room of Lakewood City Hall, 12650 Detroit Avenue, Lakewood, Ohio, to discuss the following item:

ORDINANCE NO. 62-08 – AN ORDINANCE to take effect immediately provided it receives the affirmative vote of at least five (5) members elected to Council, otherwise, it shall take effect and be in force after the earliest period allowed by law, authorizing the Mayor (Director of Public Safety), the Director of Public Works, the Director of Law, the Director of Finance, and/or the Purchasing Manager to engage Ice Land USA – Lakewood LLC to lease and provide managerial services, and enter into a contract for Winterhurst Ice Rink.


Michael W. Dever
President of Council








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I drive by the Iceland USA rink on Rt. 82 in Strongsville everyday. I noticed last week that the big Iceland USA sign has been replaced... it now says Hoover Arena, and in a little corner it says "Operated by Iceland USA."

I don't know what that means, I just thought it was interesting in light of this thread. Did Iceland USA used to own that rink, and then sold it to take on a similar role to what they'll have with Winterhurst?

Looks like a sponsorship deal, pure and simple.

Also, the arrangement appears to be the opposite there, with Ice Land owning the facility and the city paying them lease payments to allow the teams to practice and play there.