The Juneau Assembly Committee of the Whole tonight will get an update on a feasibility study for a proposed Dimond Park Ice Rink.
After getting the go-ahead from the Assembly last month, the Juneau Community Foundation received a proposal from Berkeley, California-based consulting firm The Sports Management Group for “an unbiased and independent” review of a new skating facility at Dimond Park.
According to a description of the study, the consultants were set to begin their research last week. Their report will identify likely operating costs, revenue generation, and cost recovery. It also will look at how a new facility at Dimond Park would affect operations at the existing Treadwell Ice Arena, as well as how the two facilities could work together.
The community foundation received a $650,000 dollar legislative grant earlier this year for planning and design of a Dimond Park Ice Rink. The nonprofit proposes building the facility on city land, then turning it over to the city to operate upon completion. Mendenhall Valley Representative Cathy Munoz inserted the money into the state capital budget at the request of constituents. City officials did not request the funds.
Juneau Parks and Recreation Director Brent Fischer said last month that the city can’t afford to support two sheets of ice, nor is an ice rink in the city’s long-term plan for Dimond Park. But the Juneau Assembly asked for an analysis anyway. Some Assembly members asked that the study include information on a second skating facility next to Treadwell Arena at Savikko Park in Douglas.
The Sports Management Group hopes to complete its analysis of the proposed Dimond Park facility by mid-December. The consultants’ fee to the community foundation is $22,500.
The Juneau Assembly Committee of the Whole will get an update on the scope of the study at its meeting tonight at 6 p.m. in Assembly Chambers.
