Should City Open a Seasonal Ice Rink in Old Town Elk Grove?

Local holiday revelers may be able to go ice skating this winter without having to drive to Rancho Cordova or downtown Sacramento, but it might not be cheap for the entity bankrolling the rink.

The Elk Grove City Council this Wednesday will consider a proposal to build a seasonal ice rink in Old Town Elk Grove. The rink would be operated by Ice Unlimited, LLC., which runs rinks in Folsom, Rancho Cordova and downtown Sacramento.

If approved by the council, the ice skating rink would cost the city $80,000 to open and as much as $75,000 more for preparation of the site, utilities and cleanup.

"The City ... anticipates that it will recover at least some or all of the funds through ticket revenue sharing, advertisement sales, and concessions," a staff report for Wednesday's meeting states. "Any funds not recovered directly will be an expense."

The rink, which would be located along Elk Grove Boulevard near the railroad tracks, would be open from Nov. 17 to Jan. 21; admission and skate rentals would be $11 for adults and $9.50 for children.

More than 4,500 adults would have to go through the ice rink's turnstiles before the city would receive any share of the admission proceeds. The proposed contract with Ice Unlimited breaks down revenue sharing between the vendor and the city this way:

• Ice Unlimited receives the first $50,000 of gross revenue from tickets and rentals
• The city receives the next $10,000 of gross revenue from tickets and rentals
• Ice Unlimited receives all gross ticket and rental revenues after that until it has earned a total of $140,000 (including the first $50,000).
• The city receives all gross ticket and rental revenues after that, with no cap.

The city staff report says the city doesn't have time to ask other operators to submit proposals to operate ice rinks in Elk Grove because of the recent purchase of the property where the rink will be located.

Correction: A previous version of this article included an incorrect date for the proposed opening of the ice rink. Elk Grove Patch regrets the error.

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Elk Grove City Council Meeting
6 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 24
8400 Laguna Palms Way

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Elk Grove, what do you think of this idea? Would you go ice skating in Old Town Elk Grove? Tell us in the comments section below.

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