Grownups may be bubble's only hope
Scott N. Miller
August 29, 2004
VAIL
- This is it. Really.
Local skaters have until roughly 5 p.m. on Tuesday to sign contracts and write
deposit checks for ice time at Dobson Ice Arena, and, yes, just maybe, the Vail
ice bubble.
After several weeks of lobbying and scrambling, a loosely-organized group called
the Valley Wide Ice Users Alliance will meet with the Vail Recreation District
Board to see if there's enough pen-to--paper interest to justify raising the
bubble for yet another season atop the driving range at the Vail Golf Course in
East Vail.
To demonstrate demand ice users have created spreadsheets detailing the numbers
of people who want ice time and what they want it for, managing to effectively
fill a winter's schedule.
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Check it out |
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"Our
core group has done all it can, now it's time to show them the money,"
alliance member Stephen Connolly said.
If the money comes, there's a good chance the recreation district will agree to
run the bubble one more year, board member Peter Cook said. And if the
recreation district gets on board, Vail Town Council members have said they'll
consider putting up the inflatable structure for one more season.
Town officials earlier this year were pondering what to do with the bubble,
including putting it up for sale, after the recreation board announced it would
not manage the bubble again due to continuing operating losses. The district
lost more than $33,000 running the bubble last season.
With the bubble's demise apparently a done deal, the ice users again began
lobbying the Vail Town Council. At a July meeting, the group was urged to takes
its case to the recreation district.
Since then, the group has crunched numbers, rang phones and generally organized
an all-out effort to keep two sheets of ice in Vail. The biggest surprise from
the number crunching was just who wanted ice time, Connolly said.
"Adult hockey is really what's driving this," Connolly said.
"Across the country adult hockey is the fastest growing part of the
sport."
Adults also seem ready to write checks.
"The adult users are committed. If we need to pay more, we'll try to find a
way to do it," alliance member Laurie Mullins said.
Mullins, a member of a women's hockey league, said she's optimistic the bubble
can rise another season. So is recreation district board member Peter Cook.
"I hope they get it done," Cook said. "That would be a resurgence
in demand for ice."
But the checks have to roll in, he said.
"Everybody's talked about this in the past," Cook said. "Last
year we believed (ice time would be filled). This year they have to prove
it."
Alliance members intend to provide that proof, Connolly said.
"The (rec district) has all the right in the world to be gun-shy about our
talking about growth," Connolly said. "But we think we can grow."
If that growth does happen, it will be due to abundant ice time.
"We're showing this is a hockey town," Mullins said. "We don't
want that momentum to stop."
Staff Writer Scott N. Miller can be reached at 949-0555,
ext. 613, or smiller@vaildaily.com.
Vail Colorado