Village considers adding ice rink
The Poppy Waterman Ice Arena may soon have a second ice rink and larger youth hockey tournaments.
Dells-Delton Area Hockey Association President Jeff Jacobson met with the Lake Delton Parks and Recreation Committee Thursday to discuss another sheet of ice.
Because the village purchased the hockey arena late last year, the hockey association now has to come to the village for contract approvals.
Jacobson said John Schwarz, tournament director of Chicago-based Ultimate Hockey Tournaments, schedules many tournaments at the arena in the fall and winter, but the arena isn’t large enough to support an entire tournament by itself. Last winter Ultimate Hockey brought to the Dells area 227 different team from 10 states and 2 countries. This meant for the Dells area resorts 9500 room nights.
"When (Schwarz) tells them they have to drive to Reedsburg or Sauk to play, they are resistant," Jacobson said. "John really wants another sheet of ice. He thinks he can double his tournament size if he has more ice."
The proposal would be to build an open air pavilion next to the hockey arena and install a mat system with refrigeration coils to keep the ice frozen.
During the summer months, the mats could be rolled up and stored, and the pavilion could be used for other purposes.
The plans are in the very early stages, and Jacobson said he wanted to meet with the village to discuss the possibility of adding more ice before Schwarz became too engrossed in exploring the details.
Jacobson said he has no idea how much the project could cost, or who would pay for it.
Village Attorney Dick Cross said he likes the idea. "This is one great way for them to make money," he said of the hockey association.
The second hockey rink could also increase the amount of open skating time available to the public.
One concern the committee had was the amount of parking around the arena if a second rink was added.
Currently, there wouldn’t be enough parking available, but there is room to add more. Another option would be to come to an agreement with neighbor C&H Distributors to use its parking lot.
Jacobson said C&H has allowed them to use the lot for busses since the business doesn’t operate on weekends.
Trustee and committee member Tom Bannen asked if the association’s Zamboni could service both sheets of ice if a second was added.
Jacobson said they recently purchased a used Zamboni for only $6,000 to use as a back up for the first Zamboni.
It was purchased as insurance, Jacobson said, because Schwarz would be in big trouble if the Zamboni broke during a tournament and a back up machine wasn’t available.
Trustee and committee member Doug Clausen said the village would be remiss if it didn’t pursue this second sheet of ice.
The committee gave Jacobson the go-ahead to start looking into the particulars of the project.
