Ice rink 'bound to happen'

Ruapehu Bulletin, Volume 12, Issue 538, 6 September 1994, Page 3

Ice rink 'bound to happen'

There' s a profitable recreation business opportunity in Ohakune just waiting for someone to grab it. That was the message put out at a meeting to present the latest information on the Ohakune ice rink project. Several speakers gave opinions, statistics and evidence to show that an ice rink is not only feasible but would be a very profitable business. A small group of around 20 people who attended the meeting were told that the project now requires some-

one to pick it up and make it happen. And to support the group or person who takes on the business, there is $70,000 in financial support pledged, they were told. Feasibility study co-au-thor Bill Peach said in his view it needed either a single person as entrepreneur to pick it up, or a small steering committee. He said with a group that was too large, the administration costs of running the business would be too great. The group that has been

working on the project is merely a facilitator and can't take on the project and run it themselves, he said. The study looked at various options, deciding the most viable initially was a small rink using the King Country Energy depot building in Old Station Road which is available for lease. With the ice rink plant and equipment available from an operator in Dunedin, the cost of setting the rink up would be around $400,000. Running costs for

a six-month operation (ski season) would be $ 1 84,200 not counting depreciation, with an estimated income of $335,425. There was enough land available at the site to extend the rink to full size, allow for parking, and also add other indoor activities in the future.

Mr Peach said the Dunedin operator wanted to sell up his business because he had "had enough". Asked why the operator was closing down, Mr Peach said the Dunedin rink was set up in an industrial area outside the city which was difficult to get to, and that he had suffered frost

heave problems which had cost him over $150,000 to fix. Mr Peach said their study showed they would also have to make allowances for frost heave (where the ground under the rink freezes and lifts, breaking up the rink floor) but that this was covered in the cost

of setting up the rink. He said it was much easier and cheaper to do this from the startthan afterwards, as was the case in Dunedin. It involved piping the waste heat from the plant under the rink floor to dry out the ground. The old caravan park site Turn to Page 4

Ice rink bound to happen FROMPAGE3 on Raetihi Road, opposite the swimming baths, was deemed not viable because of problems with multiple ownership, said Mr Peach. He said sorting out the ownership to then buy the land would be too expensive. Ruapehu mayor Garrick Workman said also that the council may look at reopening the road through that area to divert logging trucks from the centre of town. The man behind the project, ice skating enthusiast Dennis Beytagh, said he was disappointed with the turnout at the meeting, and with the fact that no decision was made. He said with perfect weather on the mountain and late closing of the lifts on Turoa, very few of the 100 ski clubs invited had sent representatives. However he said he felt the meeting was a step forward, in that pledges of support had been made and that hopefully the message will get through that this project was now proved viable and was there for the taking. He said the clubs which received invitations would get copies of the information that was made public at the meeting so that it can be considered at their own committee meetings. "It is bound to happen. New Zealand is one of the few countries in the world where ice skating rinks are not associated with ski fields and are a natural part of the winter sports theme. One day it will come to Ohakune," he coricluded.