Rink of Dreams

[XLFD]

The dream began a few years back, when a small group of people approached the City's Building & Licensing Committee and suggested that a combination summer Splash Pad and winter ice skating rink would be an excellent addition to bring more people to the downtown area (it was proposed on East Ludington Avenue, on the vacant lot just east and across the street of the library).  The idea was shot down in committee then, but the germ of that idea came up once again just before this last Halloween and described by the Mason County Press.

Over the next few weeks, the idea was brought up repeatedly in the sites inter-related to the Downtown Ludington Board and the media for marketing and in more City committees and even the council, which unanimously approved the idea on November 12:

"Interim City Manager Brock introduced a plan by the Downtown Development Authority (DDA) to put in a synthetic ice rink in the north James Street Plaza for the public to skate for free. The DDA has raised money to pay for this rink through sponsorships by DDA members. He stated that these sheets of material put together in a puzzle fashion would be 20’ x 40’ and will cost approximately $8,000. If the DDA receives additional sponsorships, they would like to purchase and install additional sheets for a larger rink to accommodate more skaters. The life of these panels is 7-8 years.

The DDA Board authorized the purchase of the ice rink up to the amount of sponsorships received and it is up to City Council to decide to allow the DDA to put this ice rink on public property. Councilor Winczewski questioned the maintenance on this rink and who would be cleaning the snow off of it. It was explained that shovels and a broom will be set up so it will be up to the users of the rink to keep it clean. City Attorney Richard Wilson asked about the time frame for ordering and installing the rink and annually what time frame would it be set up for use by the public. Councilor Cain stated that the DDA would like to have this up in mid-December for the holiday shopping in the downtown. It is expected that it will be set up during the winter months to begin with... Motion carried."

Around December 13, it was noted that the small rink was almost ready, and by December 20, Interlochen Public Radio heralded its operation, relating it would be set up through March after talking with the rink's main impetus-provider, Jen Tooman.    

Yet, the small 800 sq. ft. rink didn't allow for much room, so you just didn't see the people utilizing this rink.  The second batch of synthetic ice panels were purchased for another $8000 or so and arrived after some of the winter's worst weather, to be installed around February 3rd.

But winter resumed shortly after this expansion, and a weird thing happened.  It was noted from the start that use of the rink would be free, funded effectively by the donor businesses who would get advertising as some compensation on the fence panels.  Which is great, but it was also noted that the users would have the task of shoveling and/or sweeping the surface of the rink so that it could be used for skating.  This doesn't seem to be happening; throughout the month, the rink has been covered with snow, even though there hasn't been a lot of snow and the snow has been mostly been of the fluffy, easy to shovel/sweep variety.  Here's what I saw yesterday:

Clearly, the height of snow in the rink seems to be the same height of the snow on the outside.  There doesn't seem to be any signs of skating on the inside of the rink, no signs of shoveled snow on the outside, even though there hasn't been any significant snow since the previous weekend.  Frankly, I wasn't able to see any sort of snow removal equipment rather than a shovel in the immediate area, which didn't seem to have been used recently:

It made me curious as to why there wasn't public interest in using the synthetic ice skating rink, but then I slept on that thought and returned this morning.  I walked onto the rink area with my usually-reliable winter shoes, and had a hard time keeping my footing and not throwing my back out on the synthetic ice underlying the snow, deceptively hiding the slick surface.

And then it hit me; how difficult would it be to shovel (or sweep) off this synthetic surface when it's all you can do to retain your footing, then still remain vertical when you carry that snow on the shovel to the side and toss it over the fence?  

This rink will fail in its potential to draw anybody to the downtown if the original dream is not modified in some way.  Can a pavilion be placed over the skating area to keep out most of the snow?  Can the downtown wizards jerryrig a device to function like a snow-removing Zamboni and have somebody to use it when needed?  Will skate rentals become a reality from Gordy's or other businesses?  Will they have a 'skating event' to formally introduce the rink to the public or just announce it again through various media and hope it sees use?

The money is spent, and they have a few seasons to iron out the wrinkles and make this work, otherwise this could become nearly a $20,000 mistake for the downtown businesses.

[stump]

I can see it next year. Due to improper storage the panels  will look like the  skate board park ramps.

[XLFD]

This Canadian article from our across-the-border city of Windsor explains how they spent $55,000 on synthetic ice and had problems with it in short order when the seams were uneven and they couldn't be used without creating an overly hazardous situation.  It hadn't even been used.

If the underlying pavement is a bit uneven, over time I see that even with proper storage (which isn't guaranteed) that seam-hazards may become a fatal problem.  If hockey and figure skating forum sites are to be believed, fake ice has a tendency to be a lot slower, require more effort to move around, and not be as fun as real ice.  Synthetic ice marketers will not tell you any of that, because they want to sell their product.  It's a shame that our DDA could not have spent more time researching whether this was a good use of resources, but the timeline suggests they rushed into an impulse buy, squandering $500 from a couple of dozen businesses to do so.

[Freedom Seeker]

Thanks for that close up picture of the seams, X.  That's exactly what I was imagining, very dangerous and uneven seems.  It might have been ok for young kids with two bladed ice-skates to get a little skip and fall exercise, with the parents holding them under the arms and falling themselves.  Just like many things this city had been doing, not even half thought out or researched.  Hopefully the business that gave their advertising dollars can take a loss and have learned a lesson.

[Willy]

It seems to me that right from the beginning this project was misnamed. It is not an "ice rink", which may have given the wrong impression of just what was to be installed. I don't think it was intentional but calling it an ice rink was just not correct because there is no "ice". It might have been more acceptable if people had known exactly what was being proposed. For the budding hockey or figure skating enthusiasts who are serious about improving their skills, this material is a boon to anyone who wants to compete at a higher level because of it's ability to allow people to "skate" all year long, even in basements or garages.

[AQUAMAN]

I briefly researched synthetic ice costs per panel. They average $139-215 per 4'X8' panel. For a 20'X40' rink like ours in Lud., the cost is $5500-8600, that's far less than $10-20K. In addition, these type of products can also be rented or leased, with options to buy later after seeing if it's what you really need. I couldn't find any info. on warranties, so I have to assume there isn't much there to protect consumers. The material of polyethylene is the synthetic plastic used by most. The loss of speed and motion on this material makes it clear that only very sharp ice skate blades will work best, and this material dulls blades much more quickly than real ice. I also believe that this idea by CVB/DDA wasn't thought out very well to begin with. It also would have been much less expensive to just rent/lease the first and maybe second winter, to see how it goes first. They also didn't think out the requirements that a crew of volunteers to clean and maintain the rink should have signed up for the duties in advance. Putting the cart in front of the horse doesn't make any sense in any endeavor, in the past, present, or future. This is a prime example of why we have so many political problems in life, when people don't really know what they are doing in the pursuit of business projects, and spend money like water on any project whether it's successful or not.

[stump]

Same goes on the splash pad.    Not very well thought out. The splash pad in itself is a great idea and pretty safe for small children. Here comes the but, in Colder climate summers as we have in Ludington not so much. Even in the South the cities don't turn them on until April or May, the city water is still to cold for small children to play in. Did anyone on the splash pad committee check out the cities water temperatures in June , July  and August?   Just guessing June would be to cold  so July and August would be the only usable months if we have a hot summer. Maybe they will install a super duper water heater , of coarse the bill will be passed on to you . Sometimes somebodies great ideas like the narrowing of Ludinton ave., the west end project skate rink and the splash pad should just be left as ideas and not to be proven , WHAT THE HELL WERE WE THINKING ?????

[XLFD]

There would be no second guessing on these projects from the public, if there were some better first guessing by the city leaders that foist these expensive ideas to the forefront in the secrecy afforded by the city's current committee structure.

Great points, as usual, stump.  I would add to your list two projects that have/will cost a million:  the city marina transient docks (2012) and Legacy Park (future).   Back in the day, Aquaman put up one of his rare posts doing a cost-benefit analysis of the docks and, even with maximal use (which hasn't been realized, the docks are empty more than they have any paying customers), the docks would never recoup their cost until well after their lifetime.  Legacy Park is just a fantasy dreamed up by the Downtown Duo of Tooman and Tykoski to keep the DDA relevant and funded. 

I believe that due to its irrelevance and continued waste of their funds, that if the DDA was disbanded and downtown merchants were left to decide their own marketing and events (without undue interference by city hall), our downtown would reap a lot better results in the long run.  It's unlikely that will happen since city hall won't let it happen without an unfair fight.  They'd lose too much power and backdoor money.

[Willy]

Excellent point stump. Even though city water is tank stored above ground it must run under ground until it is dispensed at a tap. So whatever the ground temperature is in July and August is what the water temperature will be. Anyone who has been squirted with a hose in the summer knows just how cold it can be. So, I can see no other way to keep kids from chilling down at a splash pad other than heating the water before it's used and unless it is recycled there will be a lot of energy used to constantly heat the water. X is correct about the brain dead people in Ludington whose ideas continue to drain the treasury. After all it's not their money.

[Willy]

On that same theme of not thinking things through, how about the altering and construction slated for Ludington Ave beach. After massive erosion over the years due to high water levels including a seiche {mini tsunami} that occurred last spring. Even after these things have occurred the madness with proceeding with construction at the beach is astoundingly stupid to say the least. This is where the name Clowncil fits so well. This project can still be stopped but they are hell bent on acting like idiots.

[AQUAMAN]

Thanks Willy.

[Willy]

My pleasure Aquaman. I didn't mean to get to off topic but we all know that a picture says a million words and besides I thought it would be nice to see the beach without all the ice.

[stump]

Has the DDA put the cart before the horse?  I seem to recall that there was a plan abut 2 years ago to make the James st plaza into a legacy park . In that area there would have been a structure built for the farmers market folks. Could it be that in there wisdom that the ice rink  was planed to to be placed under that structure in the winter months. Oh ya, that's the was plan.  LOL