The Crested Butte News Serving the Gunnison Valley since 1999
“Let’s go the next page…”
It appears at first glance like an enclosed, bare-bones ice rink could be built south of the Crested Butte Community School for a little more money than it would take to upgrade and cover the Big Mine Ice Rink. If a deeper analysis of the financials holds true, the Town Council could soon revisit the issue of where to have a covered rink in town.
Crested Butte mayor Alan Bernholtz, the town staff and members of the East River Skating Association have met twice in the last month to try to hammer out a solution of where to put an improved ice rink in town. This spring, the Town Council had decided to pursue adding a roof at the current Big Mine location. That caused a stir among local hockey enthusiasts who are adamantly against spending any more money at Big Mine.
Bernholtz has repeatedly said he doesn’t care where a covered ice rink is located but he would like to see one somewhere “sooner rather than later.” So, the East River Skating Association came up with the estimated cost of constructing a new rink that would be enclosed but not refrigerated. Those financials were presented to the town Monday morning.
“This is a very stripped-down building, but we still see this as being the right place to locate the rink,” East River Skating Association board member Bill Coburn said. “We are saying the numbers are similar to what the town estimates it will take to put a roof on Big Mine. We also think we can get a lot of in-kind labor and materials to help cut the cost further if [the rink] is located by the school.”
The town staff hadn’t seen the “financial worksheet” put together by John Mortell and East River Skating. The worksheet has a 24,000-square-foot building coming in at about $1.4 million. That includes a roofed rink, four locker rooms, no refrigeration plant, a very small lobby, and ice rink standards such as hockey boards and glass.
“There are also all kinds of little issues that come with that location,” said Crested Butte building and zoning director Bob Gillie. “There are wetland issues; the school’s water retention pond might have to be moved, and if it’s enclosed we could lose GOCO [Great Outdoors Colorado] grant funds. Those costs have to be considered.”
Mortell said enclosing the rink could sacrifice GOCO funds but would ultimately reduce maintenance costs. Coburn said placing the rink by the school could enhance the potential for private donations.
“We need to vet these numbers more because I think some things are low on the worksheet,” said Gillie.
Bernholtz asked the meeting participants if the numbers were in the ballpark. He said if the cost was $200,000 or $300,000 more than a Big Mine roof upgrade, it could be worth pursuing the alternate location. “Everyone agrees it would be easier to expand a facility over by the school, so that is a big plus,” he said.
Coburn said the $300,000 guesstimate is probably high. “I think it would be good to vet these numbers and also have a quick planning process to see where everything goes and make sure the other hurdles like the wetlands, the retention pond, parking, aren’t too big too handle,” he said.
Town parks and recreation director Jake Jones said he would hope that if a rink is located at the school, it would be designed to add on a recreation center building in the future. “That is a high priority for me,” he said.
East River Skating treasurer G.J. Santelli wanted to make sure the town knew that the organization had donated a significant amount of money to the local hockey program. Bernholtz said he knew that was true, but said any reference to East River Skating Association contributions were meant in the context of a major project. “I think we need to see more in line with big donations to help build this structure,” he explained.
Bernholtz said he felt it looked possible to pursue a rink over at the school campus. “The numbers are close enough on the surface to look in that direction,” he said. “Let’s look at the numbers, bring out the hurdles and move forward.”
“I think we also need to look at the operational costs involved,” added Gillie.
“That is an important part and that will definitely be on the mind of the council,” agreed Bernholtz.
Santelli said his group had some good estimates on operating costs and would dig them out and update them.
“Let’s go forward to the next page,” said Bernholtz. “Hopefully East River can open up the book to operating costs. There will also be political fallout over the traffic generated by an ice rink on that side of town. I don’t see any show-stoppers. So let’s tighten up all the numbers, find out what the costs would be to participants in the hockey program, meet again and then go to the whole council.”
Bernholtz again emphasized that a big part of moving the rink location would involve finding private donations to help fund a rink.
Jones reminded everyone that the town was starting a parks and recreation master planning process in July. “One good thing about placing it over by the school is that it would help the momentum toward a rec facility and overall sports and recreation campus,” summed up Jones.
The town staff will scrutinize the numbers provided by the East River Skating Association and another meeting will be held in the next month.
