Ice bubble to stay in storage
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Scott N. Miller
September 3, 2004
VAIL - The bubble
has burst.
After spending nearly two months providing facts and figures, a group of local
skaters ultimately came up short in a drive to wring one more season from the
Vail ice bubble, which has stood at the golf course in East Vail the last few
winters.
The Vail Recreation District board voted 5-0 Tuesday not to operate the bubble
for the coming season. Board members also voted to provide up to $5,000 for
another year of storage for the facility.
For board members, Tuesday's vote reinforced a decision made months ago. Earlier
this year, the board had voted not to operate the bubble, citing continuing
operating losses and lack of use of the ice rink.
In turn, the Vail Town Council, which owns the bubble, began pondering what to
do with the bubble, especially since off-season storage costs are in the
neighborhood of $10,000. When discussions turned to selling the bubble, local
skaters jumped into the fray, urging the council to keep the inflatable
structure.
The council in July agreed to keep the bubble another year,
but when the issue of running the facility came up, local skaters were sent to
the recreation district.
The result was something like a last-minute "pull the goalie" drill in
hockey, with the ad hoc Valley Wide Ice Users group working feverishly to prove
enough demand existed to run Dobson Ice Arena in Vail, the new ice rink in Eagle
and the bubble.
The drill peaked following the Aug. 24 recreation district board meeting, when
members told skaters to put pen to paper in the form of contracts for ice use
and deposit checks to pay for the time.
Several contracts were signed over the week, but just one check was received.
Meanwhile, Dobson manager Irv Gladstone went to work on a schedule to fit every
known user group into a time slot at the arena. The resulting schedule runs from
5:45 a.m. to midnight, but, Gladstone said, every group he's aware of got ice
time.
Fitting users into the time available at Dobson was board member Peter Cook's
main concern. But Ginny Crowley, who last year co-founded a women's hockey
league that plays in both Vail and Eagle, said the current schedule allows no
room for growth.
"If we have any growth at all, we'll need the
bubble," Crowley said. "You're settling for the status quo here.
You're telling your users you don't want to grow."
The main issue, though, is whether the district could reasonably balance the
expense of running the bubble against the number of people served, Cook said.
"We just can't spend big money for small increments in service and that's
what the bubble has been," Cook said.
While user groups were all fit into Dobson, a continuing problem for skaters is
ice time when the arena is used for special events.
The biggest concern is Feb. 5 to 12, when the National Brotherhood of Skiers
holds its annual convention in Vail. That convention happens to hit just before
the state's high school hockey playoffs, which could put Battle Mountain High
School's team off the ice at a crucial time.
The Western Eagle County Metropolitan Recreation District
has agreed to provide at least some ice time for Dobson users during the
convention, Vail rec district director Dennis Stein said.
And board member Nino Liccardi encouraged Stein to keep working with the
National Brotherhood of Skiers to free up at least some ice time during the
convention.
While skaters were obviously disappointed in the decision, board members
encouraged them to continue working to expand their programs.
Staff Writer Scott N. Miller can be reached at 949-0555, ext. 613, or smiller@vaildaily.com.
Vail Daily, Vail Colorado