To say the Park City Ice Arena is busy would be an understatement, to put it mildly. The arena runs a skating academy and a hockey academy, both with multiple levels of instruction. There is an adult hockey league which has grown to become the second-largest in the state. There is a speedskating club and a curling club. The National Ability Center runs programs. And on top of all that, time still has to be set aside for open skates, drop-in hockey, figure skating practice — the list goes on.
Adding a second sheet of ice either to the existing facility or at a new location nearby was made a central part of the Mountain Recreation Facilities Master Plan to relieve that pressure. Amanda Angevine, general manager of the Park City Ice Arena, said over the past few years they have had to become extremely efficient with ice time.
“We have as many classes on the ice as we think we can still give a good class to at the same time,” she said. “It’s not uncommon to have six classes of ice skating and then a hockey class next to each other. It works. We try really hard not to turn people away. But inevitably we do have to turn people away from those classes.”
A second ice sheet would immediately eliminate that problem, she said. And groups like the Ice Miners youth hockey team would benefit, as well.
“The Ice Miners have teams regularly practicing down in Salt Lake,” Angevine said. “When they have tournaments, they use ice in Salt Lake. There is a girls’ hockey team looking to form and they also cannot get ice time up here.”
Hotel ice sheets could solve problem
The community’s wish was to add a second sheet of ice, though now it appears they may end up with a second, third and fourth. Justin Griffin, owner of the Jovid Mark Hotel development, had planned to build an ice sheet as part of the hotel project. Now, he said, the team is going back before the Wasatch County Planning Commission in July to request an amendment.
“We’re looking to do one ice sheet with seating, indoor,” he said. “And then another indoor practice rink next to it. And then on top of that an outdoor rink. So we’re hoping to have three rinks total.”
Griffin said after word got out they were planning to build an ice sheet and started looking around for potential partners, to host tournaments and bring events in, “the demand was much greater than we expected.” He said he now envisions the Jovid Mark Hotel turning Park City into a premier ice sport destination that can draw from all over the country.
“Between these new rinks and Park City Ice Arena, we’d have four ice sheets,” he said. “There are not many venues in the country with that much ice. We’re going to attract a lot of people.”
Griffin said he understands there might be skepticism about the Jovid Mark including three sheets of ice, but he said if Wasatch County approves it in July the team plans to move forward with it and remain on track for a late summer 2017 opening.
“Other hotels in Park City have the skiing, the slopes right next door. We don’t have that. Which is why the ice component is so important,” he said. “We would not do this development if for some reason the county was not OK with it including ice sheets.”
Public, private partnership
The Jovid Mark Hotel could have a big impact on the Mountain Recreation Facilities Master Plan. Park City Recreation Manager Ken Fisher said a group of recreation officials from the region met with Griffin several months ago to learn more about his plan.
“We just had a very informal meeting with them,” Fisher said. “So obviously if a rink or two rinks get built, that would push out the need for us to build any additional ice sheets. Assuming we can get access.”
Fisher said even if there is no formal agreement between Park City Recreation and the hotel, public access to that facility would still be beneficial.
“If he programs it, even on his own, hosts adult leagues or whatever, I imagine there would be a shift in use,” Fisher said. “Or certainly the Ice Miners youth hockey program would look to gain access to it.
“From experience, you need to program an ice sheet as much as you can to try to make any money out of it.”
Fisher said he was surprised at how quickly demand for ice time grew after the Park City Ice Arena was opened 10 years ago.
“Originally the arena was open seasonally,” he said. “It was open in the winter and we closed it down in the summer. Within the first two or three years, we shifted to year-round ice.
“It was ahead of schedule. When we built it we knew we would be starting seasonally and we had a timeline of getting to year-round ice, and we were way ahead on that timeline.”
Angevine said she has been in contact with Griffin and others from the development on a regular basis. She said they have been enthusiastic about collaborating with the Park City Ice Arena to spread out public demand. If that happens, she said, it would be a tremendous benefit to the region.
“Big picture, when we did our feasibility study to see about adding a second sheet to our existing ice arena, the price was $19-25 million,” she said. “That’s a really high price tag for the community, so if a private entity is willing to come in and pay that price tag and have public access, I think it’s great.”
Griffin, too, confirmed talks with Angevine, and said he is hopeful a partnership can be forged.
“Absolutely. Amanda has her hands full already. Her arena is just packed,” Griffin said. “She has plenty of spillover business and we would love to work together with her on that.”
Bond money allocation
Megan Suhadolc, interim director of the Snyderville Basin Special Recreation District, said publically-accessible ice sheets at the hotel would have an effect on how the district allocates bond monies approved in 2014. The $25 million bond, she said, was designated for open space, trail improvements, and recreation facilities, and the district recognized several projects it was prepared to help facilitate with the passing of the bond.
“One of which was contributing $2.5 million to Park City Municipal for an additional ice sheet,” she said. “The money is still being held for that purpose. The decision to move forward with ice expansion is up to the city and they are taking the Black Rock [hotel] development into consideration. For now, the district is going to wait and see what happens.”
The next public meeting of the Mountain Recreation Facilities Master Plan will be held at 6 p.m. Wednesday, June 29 at Park City High School. For more information, visit www.RecFacilitiesMP.org.