By Robert Marchant
CORTLANDT — The Town Board has authorized a request for developers to submit proposals to build an indoor ice rink at the town recreation facility near the train station off Route 9A.
Town Supervisor Linda Puglisi said the creation of an ice rink has been a longtime goal of the administration, and the current concept would allow a private company to make it a reality on town property.
“A public-private partnership, we’re exploring the idea, to see if there’s anyone out there to do it,” Puglisi said. “We would provide the land, and they would build it and run it and pay rent.”
Val Santucci, a developer and businessman in the recreation industry,, proposed building an ice rink off Watch Hill Road in 2006, but concerns about the location and traffic blocked it from advancing.
Puglisi said the demand for a skating rink became clear during talks over the Santucci project.
“There was a lot of support, the community would love it,” she said.
The site for a year-round ice rink would be a roller rink next to the town recreation center. It has been little used in recent years, Puglisi said.
If successful, the rink could even be a source of revenue.
An adviser to the town on sports and recreation matters, James Creighton, said the demand was there.
“I think the reception to the idea will be entirely positive. The devil will be in the details, but it’s probably the No. 1 thing people talk about,” he said, when the subject of recreation comes up.
Cortlandt families have to travel about 20 to 30 minutes to rinks in central Westchester or eastern Putnam counties. A seasonal outdoor rink at Bear Mountain Park also serves recreational skaters.
“There’s a lot of skaters out there,” Creighton said. “There’s a commercial market for it, I think, and people really seem to want it.”
Smooth ice can be a scarce commodity in the northern suburbs, especially for local hockey teams.
Facilities like the Brewster Ice Arena and the Westchester Skating Academy in Elmsford got deluged with demand after the Ice Casino at Playland was taken out of commission by Superstorm Sandy.
A proposal to build an ice rink in Rye Brook is under consideration, with traffic concerns arising on the part of community leaders.
8 Comments
the ice deficit is south of 287, not up there. The double rink in Newburgh just came out of bankruptcy and sells ice for $300. There is plenty of land to build a rink on up there but no one has done it because the economics are not good.
If you can find the land south of 287 you can get $600 per hour for your ice and make a lot of money. That is until the Rye Brook Quad gets built and ice plummets to $300 per hour down there as well.
Hockey is too expensive for this economy . . . you are building a rink into a shrinking base of particpants. Check the USA Hockey numbers for Westchester Fairfield. Going down not up.
Agree with most points except that the “quad” will not be charging $300. If they do they will be out of business real fast. Contrary to popular belief power costs and insurances etc are off the charts in Westchester County.
thats the point, they will be
It would be the best thing for hockey if a few more rinks got built around here. It is a sellers market around here. Per hour cost of $500 to $600 an hour and charging you for ice cuts and forcing you to buy spring ice is not fair to the kids. Anyone who says otherwise is in bed with an ice rink. Lower the ice cost, more people will play hockey. The more open ice the more rinks will invite kids to skate for free and try the sport. Now at high prices and with all the ice sold the rinks have no incentive to promote the game more than once a year.
No one unless they work for a rink would not want more arenas around here. if business people want to open a rink let them. The hockey community stands to benefit from increased competition for a change.
If you build it they will come. In droves for that matter.
they built um in fairfield county and they are not coming in droves. CPCT rinks are empty really often during prime time. If it weren’t for playland going down Sono would have had 40% utilization during prime time. All the other rinks dropped prices to $400.
Probably will go down further next year. Sorry but facts are stubborn things
Upper Westchester is in dire need for an indoor ice facility. From where I live in Cortlandt, a person would have to travel 40 minutes by car to get to an ice rink. I know, because I did it all the time to play in Brewster. Currently, all the local high schools and community teams travel this great distance routinely in order to get ice time, which is at a premium.
Brewster and Westchester Skating Academy are overbooked and the problem has only gotten worse with the storm destruction at Playland and the displacement of those patrons. An ice rink is a fantastic idea for Cortlandt. It’s a community builder and it promotes a message of good health. As a hockey player, I am very excited and eager to see an ice hockey venue in Cortlandt. As a Westchester resident, I say it is long overdue!
When is a final decision going be made on the Reckson Ice Facility? The local hockey community needs to add more options for local rinks and Reckson would give a breathe of fresh air to a stale industry.
Hey Gordie, happy birthday, it can’t come soon enough… with playland out of commission its going to be a tough year for hockey organizations.