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Ice Zone vacates building, rink to be operated by new owners
BOARDMAN
Members of the Youngstown Phantoms youth hockey and figure skating organizations said they were surprised Wednesday when they came to the Ice Zone to find the rink’s ice slowly melting and equipment being removed from the premises.
“We didn’t know any of this was going on. It was a total surprise,” said Kaari Wentz, president of Youngstown Phantoms Figure Skating.
The Ice Zone is vacating the premises due to a change in building ownership that will be finalized Friday. Extreme Air, which operates a trampoline park that shares a building with the Ice Zone, is buying the building and will take over operation of the rink.
“We were under contract. They had an option to buy the building. They exercised the option. We thought they were going to lease us the ice, but they chose not to in the end,” said Bill Weimer, vice president and general counsel for B.J. Alan Co.
B.J. Alan is owned by Mahoning Valley businessman Bruce Zoldan, who owns Phantom Fireworks and co-owns the Ice Zone.
“We wanted to lease to them. We wanted them to stay,” said Matt MacGregor, owner of Extreme Air. He said certain conditions the Ice Zone wanted in the lease were not tenable for his company.
Now, the owners of Extreme Air are attempting to work with the various organizations who use the rink to make sure no activities are disrupted. They plan to reopen the rink as the Deep Freeze Ice Arena on Monday.
This is not the first time the Ice Zone has seen volatility that threatened to shutter the facility to the skating community. In April 2013, Zoldan, co-owner of the Youngstown Phantoms junior hockey team, threatened to close the facility unless 1,000 season tickets to Phantom games at the Covelli Centre were sold by families who used the Ice Zone.
Youngstown Phantoms co-owner Troy Loney said he doesn’t know about the issues with the Ice Zone, but expects the relationship between the new ownership and the team to be “business as usual.” The Phantoms weren’t scheduled to practice at the Ice Zone for the next few weeks.
“We’ve had some discussions with the guys at Extreme Air. They’ve been cordial, they’ve been very good,” Loney said. “I’ve worked with them on some things in the past. We do share, and in the past, have shared space with them. They’ve been very good for us to work with. The purchase of the Ice Zone has been going on for a while. Our discussions have been good discussions. They’ve shown interest in keeping us at the Ice Zone as we have done in the past.”
Chris Richards, Canfield High School hockey head coach, was notified Tuesday of the ownership change. He has discussed the availability of the ice rink with the new owners and said ownership plans to have the ice ready Tuesday for the Cardinals’ next practice. Canfield’s next game is on Jan. 6. Richards said the team will need to find an alternative site if the ice isn’t playable.
Although no significant disruptions are expected, some people who use the rink are questioning the Ice Zone’s methods of departing.
Bill Oyler, Phantoms Youth Hockey Association coach, said there is no reason the compressors would need to be turned up, thus melting the ice, “unless you want to hurt the coming weekend and the kids.”
“These are kids, under 12 years old,” he said. “That’s who he [Zoldan] is hurting.”
Reached by The Vindicator on Wednesday, Zoldan said, “I have no comment. I have no idea what’s going on.”
He directed questions to Weimer, who declined to comment on the melting of the ice.
“That’s just childish. It’s unfortunate that adults need to go to that level,” Wentz said. “Who is that hurting? That’s only hurting the kids who come here to skate, whether they’re recreational skaters, hockey skaters or figure skaters.”
The youth hockey association is optimistic the new owners will have the facility ready in time for about 200 children who participate in its events.
“The bright side is, these guys [the new owners] are the best thing that could possibly happen moving forward with this building and this ice,” he said.