After the sale of the Lysander Radisson Community Arena to the Greater Baldwinsville Ice Arena fell through earlier this year, the Lysander Town Board voted Sept. 25 to take control of the ice rink. The action will terminate the Greater Baldwinsville YMCA’s lease — and the GBIA’s sublease through the YMCA — in 2015.
With the resignation of the ice arena’s manager and both rinks requiring repairs under “serious time constraints,” according to Supervisor John Salisbury, the town board held two emergency meetings and a work session last week to decide the fate of the rink, declaring it an “emergency situation” in the Sept. 25 meeting.
GBIA rink manager Michael Chapman submitted his resignation earlier this month. His last day was Sept. 26, but the rink had programs scheduled for Sept. 26 and 27, prompting the board to act.
Previously, the GBIA and the Lysander Youth Hockey Association shared management duties of the rink. With Chapman’s resignation, it will be up to the town to name a supervisor for the ice arena.
The red rink in the ice arena is in serious disrepair, and the both the red and purple rinks have refrigerant leaks. The Syracuse Youth Hockey Association’s Blazers team plans to host part of its 13th annual Midget Columbus Day Shootout tournament at the Lysander rink Oct. 11 to 13, so the town board approved an agreement with Davis Mechanical Service to complete the repairs by Oct. 9.
The repairs are not expected to exceed $50,000 and will be paid for by a rink maintenance account to which the YMCA has contributed $55,000. Under the 2002 lease, the YMCA does not pay rent but contributes money for the maintenance of the ice arena. The GBIA was supposed to have done so as well.
“The YMCA did live up to those parts of the agreement; the GBIA did not,” Salisbury said Sept. 25.
The GBIA did put down a non-refundable $10,000 deposit on its purchase offer earlier this year; this amount will go toward the rink maintenance account.
The Lysander town board also voted Sept. 25 to install a $6,200 security camera system at the ice arena through Chuck Padula System Design and Consulting, the Pennellville firm that installed the security system at the Lysander Town Hall.
Salisbury told The Baldwinsville Messenger that Lysander has spent more than $2 million on the ice arena. The town bought the arena for $850,000 in 2002 and still owes about $345,000 on that purchase. Salisbury said the rink has not been profitable since the town took it over.
Two main tenants of the rink welcomed the news of the town’s takeover.
“I think it’s going to turn the rink around,” said Michael Carni, president of the Lysander Youth Hockey Association. “We’re very appreciative of the town board and Supervisor John Salisbury and the hard work they’ve put in.”
Carni said the LYHA and the Syracuse Figure Skating Club are two of the largest users of the ice arena. He said the two organizations are planning to pool their resources and help with fundraising and beautification of the rink.
“We’re excited because it is our home and we’re looking forward to some positive changes — more attention to the rink,” said Terri Konu, president of the Syracuse Figure Skating Club.
The schedule for the Syracuse Youth Hockey Association’s Blazers, however, is still up in the air. Lysander town attorney Anthony Rivizzigno declared SYHA’s five-year ice time agreement with the GBIA illegal. According to the town, GBIA was not permitted to sign ice time commitments longer than one year under its sublease and the YMCA’s lease.
“Unfortunately, we are out of time. SYHA runs out of practice ice Sept. 30 because on Oct. 1, LYHA has taken over all our previously assigned ice,” SYHA Board President Anthony Bird told The Messenger in an email. “As for practice ice, John Salisbury keeps telling me he does not schedule the ice.”
Bird said SYHA still plans to use Lysander’s purple rink for its Columbus Day weekend tournament in addition to Cicero’s Twin Rinks and the Onondaga Nation Arena in Nedrow.
At press time, the GBIA could not be reached for comment about the fate of the ice arena.
The Lysander Town Board held off on naming a manager for the ice arena. The board is expected to name Recreation Program Director Anthony Burkinshaw at its next meeting, which will be held at 7 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 2, in the auditorium of Lysander Town Hall, 8220 Loop Road in Baldwinsville.
