Panthers Consider Other Rink Options
The Weston City Commission’s decision this week to halt plans for a recreation center that would have housed two ice rinks and served as a new training facility for the Panthers has forced the team to re-think its plans.
The Panthers were going to manage and sell sponsorships for the ice rinks in Weston, but commissioners killed the deal after objecting to the price tag, which had risen to a projected $27 million from $9 million four years ago.
Panthers Chief Operating Officer Michael Yormark said the team will now consider whether to expand and upgrade its existing practice facility, Incredible Ice in Coral Springs.
“Maybe we put in a third sheet of ice [at Incredible Ice] or build a new practice facility,” Yormark said.
The team, which believes the region needs more rinks to meet demand and help grow interest in professional hockey, is also waiting to see if the city of Boca Raton moves forward with plans to build a recreation center with two ice rinks.
“Boca is doing their due diligence to make sure if they were to develop a facility with ice, to see if it would be supported,” Yormark said.
CRAIG DAVIS In more than 33 years at the Sun Sentinel, Craig Davis has written about a wide variety of sports topics from baseball to yachting, fishing to triathlons, and also worked as a copy editor and page designer. Recently he reported on local sports, including running, swimming, cycling, equestrian and beach volleyball. He enjoys sports as a participant as well as a spectator, is active in the South Florida running scene plays in the curling club at Saveology Iceplex. This blog offers a glimpse at the business side of sports in the interest of enhancing enjoyment of the games and sporting options as a spectator as well as a participant.
