Modesto near deal for downtown ice rink

There could be another reason to visit downtown Modesto over the holidays: ice skating.

The city is close to reaching a deal with a company that would operate a 70-foot-by-120-foot ice rink in the city parking lot at 11th and K streets, near Modesto Centre Plaza. The plan is for the rink to be open every day Nov. 21 to Jan. 24.

“This is something Modesto does not have but would be a very positive amenity and bring (people) downtown,” said Jerome Murray, one of the owners of Modesto on Ice. He estimates the rink could draw 30,000 to 35,000 skaters in its first season, and that is not counting parents, grandparents and others who come to watch.

There could be lots of pent-up demand. Modesto has not had an ice rink since its last one – at Tully Road and Stoddard Avenue – burned down in 1976, according to Bee archives.

“The bottom line is we are looking at a great activity that will have a spinoff economic benefit for downtown,” said Josh Bridegroom, the city’s downtown planning manager.

A seasonal rink has operated in Turlock for two years at R.A.M. Farms on Daubenberger Road at Canal Drive.

Bridegroom said Modesto is completing its due diligence and he expects a deal between the city and Modesto on Ice to be reached within two weeks.

“We’re right on the cusp of it,” Bridegroom said.

The Downtown Modesto Partnership is helping Murray get the business started.

Murray has experience with ice. He and Troy Acor own Modesto-based Innovative Cooling Solutions, which reconditions and sells industrial refrigeration equipment to wineries, food processors, ice rinks and refrigerated warehouses. Murray said he and Acor formed Modesto on Ice.

Bridegroom said Modesto will not charge Modesto on Ice for the use of the city parking lot at 11th and K streets. Instead, he said, the proposed deal calls for Modesto on Ice to upgrade the electrical system at the city-owned Modesto Centre Plaza at a cost of $25,000 to $30,000. He said the ice rink will use the upgraded system but so will the city, which will own it.

Bridegroom said that based on an analysis of downtown parking, the city expects the ice rink’s customers to bring in an additional $15,000 in parking revenue to the city each season. Bridegroom and Murray said they are looking at a multiyear agreement.

Murray declined to say how much it will cost to start the ice rink but said it’s a big investment.

“The equipment required to freeze ice is very expensive,” he said. It would take about half of the water in a typical swimming pool to create the rink and “minimal amounts” to maintain it. He is looking at adding tenting over the rink in case Modesto experiences an El Niño winter with lots of rain. He said the rink would have 25 employees during its nine-week season.

“This is my industry,” Murray said. “I don’t know why I didn’t think of this 10 years ago when I started seeing ice rinks opening in other cities. This is a win-win situation. We can make a business out of it and provide downtown with something real positive, and there’s been a lot of buzz about having an ice rink in Modesto.”

This story was originally published August 28, 2015 at 4:29 PM with the headline "Modesto near deal for downtown ice rink."