Lysander Ice Arena tenants say owners won’t repair rink

By Ashley M. Casey

Associate Editor

Local hockey and figure skating teams are struggling to squeeze in practice time at Lysander Ice Arena because one of the facility’s two rinks is not working.

“We got a call from the rink manager saying that Rink 1 wasn’t going be installed because they found a bunch of leaks,” said Tony Bird, president of the Syracuse Youth Hockey Association’s Syracuse Blazers club.

In addition to Syracuse Youth Hockey, Lysander Ice Arena is home to the Lysander Youth Hockey Association, the Syracuse Figure Skating Club, Liverpool and Baldwinsville’s hockey teams and a handful of adult hockey leagues.

Bird said Rink 1 has had problems since the arena was owned by the town of Lysander, which repaired the rink before selling the facility to Rochester-based developer and property management firm DHD Ventures for $550,000 in 2015. The ice arena was built in 1990, and the town of Lysander had poured more than $2 million into the ice arena since 1992.

According to Bird, Home Ice 1 LLC has told its tenants it does not plan to make any repairs to the aging arena.

“Everything they have promised they have not done. We were supposed to have all new boards,” he said. “We can’t get any information from the owners.”

Now, the 62,319-square-foot property is being advertised for lease by Bridgeway Commercial Realty. Broker Tom Lischak told the Messenger the property had been listed elsewhere, but he took it on a couple of months ago. According to the listing on loopnet.com, the property was first listed Jan. 26, 2019.

Lischak said the property could have “a lot of different purposes” besides as an ice arena.

“It’s a beautiful building,” he said. “It’s very desirable.”

The Bridgeway listing reads, “The building would be ideal for distribution or light manufacturing. Building and site lend itself to add loading docks on the front and side of the building.”
Bird said he is concerned that the owners of Lysander Ice Arena are not responding to tenants’ concerns but are trying to lease the facility.

“If we have ice contracts, how can we be leasing the building?” Bird said. “We could be mid-season and we could lose our [ice.]”

He added, “Luckily, Cicero Twin Rinks was able to rent us enough ice for our tournament Columbus [Day] weekend or we would have to cancel it.”

The Syracuse Youth Hockey Association signed a contract with Home Ice 1 LLC that is supposed to last through 2023. Bird said the organization pays about $148,000 per hockey season for ice time, and they rent time during the off-season as well.

“We’re in fear of them closing it up, especially since we’re making noise about saving the rink,” Bird said.

The faulty rink is not the only thing in need of repair at Lysander Ice Arena. There is no heat in the locker rooms, the sprinkler system needs an overhaul and the bathrooms are “disgusting,” Bird said. Potholes dot the parking lot, which lacks lighting as well.

Bird said he feels sorry for Lysander Ice Arena manager James Muscatello, who is doing his best to schedule ice time.

“It’s not the rink employees, it’s not,” Bird said. “They don’t have the resources they need to make sure this rink is fixed in the manner it should be.”

Bird consulted contractors on his own about replacing the boards and ice system in Rink 1. He said the repairs and new equipment would cost about $300,000.

“We can’t purchase $300,000 of equipment without the owners [agreeing to repairs]. We’re leasing from somebody that’s not stable,” Bird said.

Ultimately, young hockey players and figure skaters are the ones who are losing out, Bird said.

“The community’s losing big-time,” he said. “If we don’t get this resolved, the kids who are skating there are going to go outside the community.”

Calls and emails to Lysander Ice Arena, Home Ice 1 LLC and DHD Ventures were not returned by press time.

According to the Buffalo News, the principals of DHD Ventures defaulted on construction and loan payments for the Monarch 716 student-housing complex in Buffalo. Thomas Masaschi of Rochester and Jason Teller of Charlotte, North Carolina, owe Acres Capital $26 million after Acres foreclosed on Monarch 716 this past spring.

Masachi was also removed from a real-estate partnership that developed the Riverview Collegiate Apartments in Rochester after Masachi allegedly “did some stuff with his ownership interest that we thought violated our agreement and the bank’s agreement,” his former partner John Yurtchuk of Matrix Development Corp. told the Buffalo News.