One of my New Year's resolutions for the City of Boca Raton was that the city moves forward on the long discussed proposal to build an ice rink on land near the new Spanish River library. In January, the city put out a request for proposal asking for a 90,000-square-foot facility with two NHL-sized rinks and a third Olympic-sized rink. It also requested amenities such as seating, a store, a fitness area, lockers, a sports medicine facility, and a restaurant.

In response to the request, the city received two bids neither of which met the exact specifications of the city. The first proposal, submitted by a company called Incredible Universe, calls for 290,000 square feet and a price tag of $55 million more than three times the size of the city request. The second proposal is from Rink Management Services Corp. and has a price tag of $11.2 million for a 70,000-square-foot rink but has only two ice rinks and no restaurant.

Due to recent newspaper coverage regarding the background of one of the owners of Incredible Universe, Incredible Universe has stated that it will not present its' proposal to the city. This leaves only the Rink Management proposal which is smaller than the city hoped.

The city acted in good faith and in response to citizen requests in moving forward on this project but has now run into the proverbial wall of ice. The city can either move forward on the smaller project or table the idea until a later time. Of course, there are no guarantees that there will ever be a better time to build an ice rink. There is no question that an ice skating facility will be a benefit to our community. The city just needs to decide if this is the right proposal at the right time.

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