The city of Toledo has put the temporary brakes on a deal that would allow Sylvania Tam-O-Shanter Sports to take over Ottawa Park Ice Rink operations.
At the Nov. 1 agenda review meeting, several councilmen expressed reservations about the co-operative agreement, which would offer Tam-O-Shanter a 30-year lease arrangement including a five-year initial lease and optional five-year incremental lease arrangements for the next 25 years, at a cost of $5 per year. In return, Tam-O-Shanter would oversee day-to-day rink operations, expand programming, and invest in capital improvements.
Rather than signaling that it would approve the agreement, however; council sent the issue to its Parks and Recreation Committee for further review. A public hearing is set for 3:00 p.m. on Nov. 28.
Currently, the rink does not turn a profit, and in fact, it costs Toledo between $58,000 and $71,000 annually to operate. But under the proposed agreement, Tam-O-Shanter officials believe there is potential to make money, while also maintaining open skate hours.
According to Mike Mankowski, hockey director at Tam-O-Shanter, who addressed council during the agenda review, that would be done by adding new programming, including during times when the ice is not there.
“We do see it as a win-win for everybody here,” Mr. Mankowski said. “We do feel that a profit can be turned and our goal is to make a profit at the facility.”
The proposed agreement also calls for an arrangement in which the city of Toledo would split the net profits with Tam-O-Shanter, with their share being reinvested into the rink for capital improvements.
Getting the rink open this year without the agreement in place has created a situation in which the city is now scrambling to find staff, said Joe Fausnaugh ,director of parks, recreation and youth services, who was hoping that council would move forward with the agreement.
Initially, the city planned to open the rink on Dec 11 as part of a tree lighting ceremony, which would also include free skating to celebrate the kick-off of the holiday season.
“This lease was so favorable to the city, that I was just operating under the assumption that we would not have to hire staff and be prepared to open the rink,” Mr. Fausnaugh said on Monday. “We will reach out to a temp agency to staff up as quickly as possible but there’s no guarantee that we will hire enough staff to open and operate on a regular basis.”
Currently staffing issues prevent Toledo from making a profit because workers are hired through an agency, where costs are 38 percent higher. Using Tam-O-Shanter’s staff would keep those costs down, Mr. Fausnaugh said. In addition, if equipment fails, such as the zamboni, Tam-O-Shanter would have a back up machine to use to not disrupt operations, where the city does not have those options at hand.
“I never would have entertained an idea of us leasing the rink unless I was absolutely sure I had protected the fact that our citizens are going to have access to the rink and all of the open skating we had in the past,” Mr. Fausnaugh said. “Obviously my preference would be to partner with Tam-O-Shanter. They are experts in that space and I think we could not only do what we’ve done in the past, but offer the public a richer experience and activate that building at a higher level.”
First Published November 21, 2022, 7:23 p.m.
