Ice rink dream is taking shape (From Daily Echo)
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Southampton ice rink dream is taking shape
5:20pm Friday 22nd January 2010 in News
HE was largely preaching to the converted.
But a developer yesterday won overwhelming support for his £10m plan to bring an ice rink to Southampton.
Ice skating campaigners, enthusiasts and interested members of the public went along to a series of meetings at St Mary’s Church to see and hear how the long-awaited return of ice skating will become a reality.
Developer Colin Warburg outlined his plans for the former Chantry Hall site.
It will house a 56m by 26m ice pad, seating for 850 spectators, a cafe, restaurant, gym and shops. The rink, which could create up to 200 jobs, could be home to an ice hockey team and provide a home for figure skaters.
The only criticisms at the meetings were that his plans might not be grand enough.
Mr Warburg said finance was mostly in place and as owner of the site he now just needed council approval.
Mr Warburg said he had received hundreds of supportive emails and comments since revealing his plans in the Daily Echo.
He said he excepted the rink to attract around 260,000 visitors a year. Council leisure boss councillor John Hannides has welcomed the proposal but said no public cash would be available. Outline plans are due to be submitted next month. If approved, the rink could open by the end of 2011.
Comments(11)
freefinker
says...
5:37pm Fri 22 Jan 10
Well at least it's not a nightmare, but it is as equally unreal as a dream.
Still, it continues to give the Echo stories. How many have there been in the last 20 plus years?
OSPREYSAINT
says...
8:40pm Fri 22 Jan 10
RealTalkSouthampton
says...
9:14pm Fri 22 Jan 10
gs are a by product. So why not put some more soul into the city by encouraging rather than discouraging". Promote an atmosphere that bring the best out of people...
southamptongeordie
says...
9:39pm Fri 22 Jan 10
Site is Warburg Property Development
forest hump
says...
11:18pm Fri 22 Jan 10
stay local
says...
1:24am Sat 23 Jan 10
1 The professional company who ran the temporary ice rink feel that building an ice rink in Southampton is a great risk, being they are highly experienced in providing ice rinks to communities. Means they are experienced in the assessment of demand for skating. Despite that assessment and the rink being in “the right place” the temporary rink failed to attract even 50% of its expected audience and they lost substantial amounts of money (at least this time it was not bankrolled by the council).
2 Other companies who have experience of building ice rinks feel that the plan is insufficient as it does not provide separate ice areas for different events, so if ice hockey is taking place there is no ice skating, the same would apply for ice dancing and all the practice sessions.
3 The Public meeting, no I did not attend, as it does not concern me the council had said it can go ahead but not funded by the council, the people who attend are those who have been voracious in demanding a new rink but inactive over the past 20 years in teams of any constructive action.
4 I am concerned about the amount of parking (75 spaces) but I am sure they can park at the near by east street car park.
5 National Hockey league guidelines states the minimum rink size should be 26 X 61 mtrs some what larger than the planned rink.
So Mr Warburg owns the land, is seeking planning permission, he has most of the funding. I have no problem in this development taking place and hope it is a successful enterprise, but if it requires council support to keep going then it should close.
freemantlegirl2
says...
8:16am Sat 23 Jan 10
stay local wrote:Some really good points there! esp. about the size of a 'sport' rink. Surely, in the longer term it should be an aim to provide a sporting arena for skaters, ice hockey alike? building a rink that is too small for these, and when the initial interest dies down may be a risk to far??? I stayed away the second time from the temporary one as it was just too crowded the first time and we had to do a lot of waiting around. It also melted and was very watery.... as the weather was so mild the first year.
Just to inject a slight dose of reality, we need to consider the following issues.
1 The professional company who ran the temporary ice rink feel that building an ice rink in Southampton is a great risk, being they are highly experienced in providing ice rinks to communities. Means they are experienced in the assessment of demand for skating. Despite that assessment and the rink being in “the right place” the temporary rink failed to attract even 50% of its expected audience and they lost substantial amounts of money (at least this time it was not bankrolled by the council).
2 Other companies who have experience of building ice rinks feel that the plan is insufficient as it does not provide separate ice areas for different events, so if ice hockey is taking place there is no ice skating, the same would apply for ice dancing and all the practice sessions.
3 The Public meeting, no I did not attend, as it does not concern me the council had said it can go ahead but not funded by the council, the people who attend are those who have been voracious in demanding a new rink but inactive over the past 20 years in teams of any constructive action.
4 I am concerned about the amount of parking (75 spaces) but I am sure they can park at the near by east street car park.
5 National Hockey league guidelines states the minimum rink size should be 26 X 61 mtrs some what larger than the planned rink.
So Mr Warburg owns the land, is seeking planning permission, he has most of the funding. I have no problem in this development taking place and hope it is a successful enterprise, but if it requires council support to keep going then it should close.
75 spaces is woeful, considering staff parking too.
RRT
says...
9:44am Sat 23 Jan 10
One of Warburg's previous "projects"
freefinker
says...
10:02am Sat 23 Jan 10
Cyber-Fug
says...
10:55am Sat 23 Jan 10
freefinker wrote:And if the pro ice rink think it is viable and claim to have 1000's of supporters on mybeboface (or whatever it is) the why havent they stumped up a few grand each to build one before ?
Big yawn. The non-story returns yet again to the Echo. Stay Local says it all - it ain't gonna happen because it's just not viable. That's why it hasn't been build these last 20 years. That's why there are so very, very few ice rinks in the UK. It's a permanent non-starter, full stop.
Cyber-Fug says...
5:28pm Fri 22 Jan 10