Golden Hammer: Ice rinks cost cities millions of dollars, fail to pay off

Taxpayers across America shelled out at least $4.8 million last year to fund government-run ice rinks, and some city governments are running deficits in the tens of millions of dollars, all in an effort to subsidize ice skating and hockey playing.

The Washington Times analyzed 16 government-funded rinks — from Niagara Falls, New York, to Cheyenne, Wyoming, and found all were costing taxpayers more than the revenue they were bringing in. Maintenance fees, low ticket sales and high equipment costs, such as the ice resurfacer Zamboni, all contributed to the deficit, according to the analysis.

“This is such a ludicrous waste of taxpayer money. I would say to all politicians ’Let it go’ and not spend any more money on ice rinks,” said David Williams, president of the Taxpayers Protection Alliance, a government spending watchdog. “Ice rinks are not a priority for most citizens. Fixing the streets, making sure the people are protected, those are government’s jobs. Ice rinks are a luxury, a vanity project, and should be privately funded.”

For using taxpayer money and issuing debt, all in the effort to appease figure skaters and ice hockey players, government-run ice rinks wins the Golden Hammer, a weekly distinction given by The Times that highlights examples of wasteful spending.

Niagara Falls, where frigid temperatures allow for outside rinks in the winter, has subsidized two indoor regulation-size hockey rinks. The rinks are generally rented by the hour by local and out-of-town hockey players for leagues, tournaments and pickup games, but the money those patrons pay for its use falls incredibly short of the cost of maintaining the facility.

Niagara Falls’ ice pavilion has drained its local taxpayers of $2.1 million, or an average of $175,000 per year, not counting more than $5 million spent by locals in capital improvements to the facility since 2009, according to an analysis by the Niagara Falls Reporter, the area’s local newspaper.

City Council member Glenn Choolokian led the charge this month to defeat a $3.1 million bond issuance to help fund replacements for the 40-year-old facility’s aging rink pads and boards, not wanting to borrow any more money to help subsidize the arena, but City Council held an emergency session to approve the measure.

“When the hockey groups come to town, they spend over and above other tourists. They drink in our bars, shop in our malls, stay in our hotels, and eat at our restaurants — all in the winter months when not many people want to come and visit us,” said council member Kristen M. Grandinetti, who voted for the bond. “Quality of life is also a huge issue here. It’s not all about paving roads and maintaining stop signs. This rink has to do about our quality of life and persevering a beautiful park. We want our families to stay here.”

Niagara Falls’ ice rink plight is not uncommon.

In Evanston, Illinois — home to Northwestern University — local aldermen are conflicted over what to do with the city’s aging rink and are contemplating a $17 million rehabilitation of the existing building, or constructing an expanded rink with a price tag of more than $43 million, among other options.

The college town wanted to partner with a private firm to help fund the renovation or expansion, but private industry opted out — partly because the city’s own consultants, hired to evaluate options for the rink, concluded that the market for ice rinks in the Chicago area was saturated and the likelihood of the larger rink making enough money to cover its costs was slim.

Even Evanston’s smaller rehab project is expected to cost taxpayers nearly $34 million in principle and interest expenses on 20-year bonds, on top of the $500,000 annual operating deficit the center already runs, according to Evanston Now, the city’s online news outlet. Combine the deficit and the bonds, and over 30-year life cycle of a new or renovated facility, staying in the ice rink business will cost taxpayers over $60 million, according to the local website.

“We’ve been talking about our ice arena for more than 12 years,” Marty Lyons, Evanston’s chief financial officer, said in an interview with The Washington Times. “If we were to close it, obviously there would be no cost to the taxpayer, but by that logic we could also stop firemen and police workings too to save money. Our residents are saying they want an ice rink, so now we’re debating on how to do it.”

The rink is part of a larger community center, which offers day care and hosts town meetings, so the city has no intention of shuttering it, Mr. Lyons said. Evanston is in the process of hiring a professional fundraiser to help garner financing for the center, and what it raises, combined with the $10 million pledged by the city government, will support the plans, he said.

Some local governments, more cash-strapped in their resources, ultimately have decided to end their skating dreams.

In 1998, the city of Melvindale, Michigan, took out bonds to construct an ice rink with the hope that it would become a big source of revenue for the city. But what was seen as a financial boon turned out to be a bust. With the ice arena unable to pay off its debt in recent years, the financially strained local government had to pull from other city services in order to keep up with its payments on the rink.

This fall, the city turned its ice rink into an AstroTurf soccer field to cut back on the cost to maintain the facility. Melvindale taxpayers, however, still owe $1.9 million in debt on the former ice arena.