One thing leads to another. That is becoming especially apparent as recreational projects to be funded from the county’s 1% sales and use tax get under way.
With a new community center in the works, the Cook County Curling Club has been granted increased use of the current Community Center. Its lease agreement with the county has been extended to allow 5½ months of curling starting October 15. Cook County Community Center Director Diane Booth and some Cook County Amateur Hockey Association moms spoke to the county board on August 23, 2011 to make a couple of requests regarding how the hockey program can be supported in light of less ice time inside the Community Center.
Along with the hockey association, the community has previously been allowed to use the indoor ice rink through November, and the school has used it for gym classes.
Booth asked the board to allow her to order an 8’x32’ stretch of interlocking synthetic ice panels as a way of finding out if the product is something that could be used for outdoor skating during the shoulder seasons. Several months ago, she had requested up to $65,000 to purchase a 40’x80’ portable synthetic ice rink (including accessories).
In answer to a question about why they couldn’t try someone else’s synthetic ice somewhere, Booth said it would probably cost as much as the price of an 8’x32’ set of panels to send someone to Florida or northern Canada where these rinks can be found. “It’s just starting to become popular,” she said. “We’ve heard good reviews.”
If they decided not to buy more ice beyond the 8’x32’ “sample,” Booth said they could use it for other things. Ideas included using it as shooting practice for hockey, making a remote-controlled toy park, or turning it into a big slide.
Booth suggested the tennis courts, the parking lot, or the community ice rink behind the Community Center as possible locations for a synthetic rink. It could be taken down and stored in the Search & Rescue building when not in use, she said.
Booth also asked the board to use 1 percent money to start building a new 100’x200’ outdoor hockey rink, something the Cook County Amateur Hockey Association has been requesting for years beginning with the formation of a county recreation coalition in 2000. “They’ve been put on hold over and over and over again,” she said.
Hockey grandparent Larry Gamer plugged the benefits of building a hockey program in Cook County. Hockey promotes sportsmanship, he said, it’s a healthy activity, it brings families together, and it builds camaraderie in the community. Building the hockey program could result in bringing visitors to the community for tournaments, he said.
With the exact location of a new community center still up in the air, Sue Hakes indicated she thought building a new hockey rink was premature. The first site considered for the new community center would require demolition of one of the tennis courts built just last year by the Cook County Tennis Association, a move that many community members thought was wasteful. “We don’t want another tennis court situation,” she said.
Hockey parent Gail Anderson said the association considers the area behind the current Community Center to be a good spot for a rink. Commissioner Bruce Martinson said some of the community center sites being considered would include an access road there, but Commissioner Fritz Sobanja said the road could be built north of the hockey rink.
Anderson wondered if the board would authorize building the rink if the association made a proposal specifying the design, cost, and location. Referring to disagreements in the community over where a new community center should be built, how much it should cost, what amenities it should include, and even whether it should be built, Commissioner Jim Johnson answered, “With the community center project, we’re getting hit a hundred different ways. We’re getting a little gun shy.”
The association is asking to be able to move forward with a new hockey rink even if the community center project gets postponed, Booth said.
The hockey association has been requesting this for years, Commissioner Fritz Sobanja said. “It’s time the board started to act on some of this.”
The board gave Booth permission to order the synthetic ice sample and approved a motion authorizing her to spend up to $65,000 of 1% money on a synthetic ice rink, pending approval of the sample by the hockey association and modification of the community center application the board already approved. Originally, a new community center and outdoor recreational upgrades east of Fourth Avenue West and north of Fifth Street were considered two separate projects, but outdoor amenities are now part of the overall community center budget.
The Cook County Amateur Hockey Association will prepare a request for the county board with specifications for a new hockey rink.
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