Revenue from recreational facilities pleases city

Ice time sells well; field house gets much use

By RON LARSEN

Journal Staff Writer

NEW ULM -- City officials, particularly Park and Recreation Department staff, are all smiles because ice sold well in New Ulm last winter.

It was the first traditional hockey season in the new Civic Center with its two sheets of ice -- one regulation and the other olympic-sized. An unaudited accounting indicates both sheets produced nearly equally in generating $124,122.25 in revenue from Oct. 6, 2003 to March 7, 2004.

"It's a great story that needs to be told," said Mayor Joel Albrecht. "We all wondered how it would go in the new building, but we can safely say it exceeded all expectations. The staff did a great job."

Director Dave Bechtold echoed those comments at the Park and Recreation Commission's meeting Monday, adding "someone deserves a bonus."

Removal of ice from Vogel Arena didn't hurt the newly remodeled multipurpose fieldhouse, either.

The Family Recreation Center posted some decent fee numbers despite loss of ice-time revenues.

Fees for all the activities at the Family Recreation Center, which includes the remodeled Vogel Field House, for the past eight months totaled $115,087.25.

More importantly, Staffing/Events Coordinator Cheryl Kormann reported, usage of the field house soared with all the activities it now provides. Attendance for that eight-month period totaled 42,372, led by an attendance count of 8,782 in January.

It was nearly a tie between the walking track and the indoor pool for top usage during that period. However, the pool with an attendance figure of 15,746 beat out the track with its usage total of 15,515.

The new Community Center, during its first year of operation, May 2003 through April 2004, brought in a total of $14,655.75 in banquet facility and meeting room rentals.

Kormann noted, however, that the department's totals for ice time wouldn't correspond with figures in the City Clerk-Treasurer's office because they lap two fiscal years.

The New Ulm Hockey Association was the single largest user of ice time at the Civic Center during those five months, Kormann reported. The association purchased 355.75 hours on olympic ice, as well as 310.5 hours on regulation ice for a total of $64,626.25.

District 88 was the second largest user, purchasing $24,095.75 worth of ice time. However, the New Ulm Figure Skating club finished a close third with $23,757.25 in ice time. Then, revenue totals drop to the $4,625 paid by Minnesota State University, Mankato. The Mankato Hockey Association purchased $2,525 worth of ice, as well.

The new field house magic even worked for the department's youth archery program. According to Park and Rec staffer Leslie Schipper's also unaudited totals, the program drew the largest number of youth archers, 70, in four years.

Despite being condensed down from 10 weeks to five weeks, the program generated $2,390 in revenue, which was about double previous years, as well as $1,306.98 in profit that was more than double any previous year. The program has previously been held in the National Guard Armory, Schipper said.