City approves Hobbs fixes
$5.5M construction could begin by next month
McLean Bennett
Issue date: 3/26/09 Section: Campus News
Hockey players go without showers in their locker rooms.
Teams and skaters vie for hard-to-get practice time slots.
And when they do practice, the city's skaters do so in a building that hasn't seen significant changes for more than 20 years - all according to this week's Eau Claire City Council meeting agenda.
The council moved to change all that Tuesday evening by voting 8-3 to renovate Hobbs Ice Arena - a building which even one dissenter, councilman Dave Duax, said could use a fixer-upper.
"It's really an antique," Duax said. "It's in bad shape."
The revamp carries about a $5.5 million price tag and would add a third indoor rink and additional locker rooms, as well as bring the decades-old arena up to par with certain building code and safety regulations, according to the meeting agenda. Phil Fieber, director of the city's Parks, Recreation and Forestry Department, said construction could begin in a few weeks and wrap up by February.
"If you've hung out after (hockey) games," UW-Eau Claire athletic director Scott Kilgallon said, "it's almost embarrassing to see men or women in their bathrobes immediately after the game going downstairs, going through the crowd and getting into the showers - that's the main issue."
The city will bond out the multimillion-dollar project over 20 years and expects to get funding help from donors, Duax said. Revenue generated at Hobbs through rink-use costs, concessions, advertising and further donations will also help cover the bond, with the city taking care of any leftover expenses, he said.
Rink rental rates are projected to increase to $165 per hour next year to help cover the debt, up from $145 per hour this year, according to the meeting agenda.
Student Senate agreed last semester to donate $300,000 to the project, matching a UW-Eau Claire Foundation donation of the same amount. The Senate donation is expected to eventually raise student fees by $1.50 per semester, according to the Senate bill authorizing the donation. Overall, contributions totaling just over $1 million from other organizations will help pay for the renovations, according to the council's agenda.
Council member Brandon Buchanan said revamping Hobbs could allow the city to host more events, with the money generated helping pay off the bond.
"So I think the potential upside and the huge number of opportunities to generate revenue far exceed the small amount of money that we would have to pay…" Buchanan said.
But Duax said he is concerned the city might be left having to pay more than it can afford if debt-offsetting revenues don't meet expectations.
"The way we pay for those bonds is not just to tax taxpayers, but we get revenue from the Hobbs arena; and if the revenue doesn't cover those payments, then we have to make up the difference," Duax said. "And frankly we just don't have the funds in these times to make up the difference."
Teams and skaters vie for hard-to-get practice time slots.
And when they do practice, the city's skaters do so in a building that hasn't seen significant changes for more than 20 years - all according to this week's Eau Claire City Council meeting agenda.
The council moved to change all that Tuesday evening by voting 8-3 to renovate Hobbs Ice Arena - a building which even one dissenter, councilman Dave Duax, said could use a fixer-upper.
"It's really an antique," Duax said. "It's in bad shape."
The revamp carries about a $5.5 million price tag and would add a third indoor rink and additional locker rooms, as well as bring the decades-old arena up to par with certain building code and safety regulations, according to the meeting agenda. Phil Fieber, director of the city's Parks, Recreation and Forestry Department, said construction could begin in a few weeks and wrap up by February.
"If you've hung out after (hockey) games," UW-Eau Claire athletic director Scott Kilgallon said, "it's almost embarrassing to see men or women in their bathrobes immediately after the game going downstairs, going through the crowd and getting into the showers - that's the main issue."
The city will bond out the multimillion-dollar project over 20 years and expects to get funding help from donors, Duax said. Revenue generated at Hobbs through rink-use costs, concessions, advertising and further donations will also help cover the bond, with the city taking care of any leftover expenses, he said.
Rink rental rates are projected to increase to $165 per hour next year to help cover the debt, up from $145 per hour this year, according to the meeting agenda.
Student Senate agreed last semester to donate $300,000 to the project, matching a UW-Eau Claire Foundation donation of the same amount. The Senate donation is expected to eventually raise student fees by $1.50 per semester, according to the Senate bill authorizing the donation. Overall, contributions totaling just over $1 million from other organizations will help pay for the renovations, according to the council's agenda.
Council member Brandon Buchanan said revamping Hobbs could allow the city to host more events, with the money generated helping pay off the bond.
"So I think the potential upside and the huge number of opportunities to generate revenue far exceed the small amount of money that we would have to pay…" Buchanan said.
But Duax said he is concerned the city might be left having to pay more than it can afford if debt-offsetting revenues don't meet expectations.
"The way we pay for those bonds is not just to tax taxpayers, but we get revenue from the Hobbs arena; and if the revenue doesn't cover those payments, then we have to make up the difference," Duax said. "And frankly we just don't have the funds in these times to make up the difference."
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