Warm reaction to ice rink cash

12:28pm Friday 13th July 2007

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Members of ice hockey team Oxford City Stars have welcomed news of a rescue package, which has secured the immediate future of Oxford Ice Rink.

Oxford City Council is set to invest £185,000 on the ice rink and £173,250 on Temple Cowley Pools, which are also in need of repair.

Although both crumbling leisure facilities are expected to be demolished within a few years time, the £360,000 will keep them going.

A study into the future of the 24-year-old rink in Oxpens was recently commissioned by the council. Many now expect it to make way for a hotel and conference facility in a regenerated West End.

The option of building an ice rink and swimming pool together to create a new energy efficient facility is also being actively investigated by consultants and officers.

But the city council has been told that essential work is desperately needed if the ice rink and Temple Cowley Pools are to remain operational.

Gary Dent, the manager of Oxford City Stars' senior team, said: "I had understood that no major work was required in the short term.

"If the council is thinking of moving it, it is essential that the new rink is ready before the old one is closed. I'm afraid there are lots of cases where councils have promise to build replacement ice rinks and they have never happened.

"My understanding is there is a chance that the council will seek to put the management of the rink out to a private company."

Darren Elliott, captain of Oxford City Stars, said: "It would be a shame if it had to move. But as long as there's an ice rink where I can play ice hockey, I will be more than happy."

The West End area action plan, setting out how the quarter of Oxford should be developed, concluded: "The rink would require almost complete re-development to bring it up to the standard of a modern facility. Both the building and the plant are life-expired.

"Oxford City Council is unable to generate extra income from its ice rink, as it in in poor structural condition and is too small to stage entertainment or top level ice hockey."

Calling for a full investigation it added: "One option would be to provide a better facility on another site, possibly near the ring road. Locating an ice rink alongside a swimming pool would bring benefits in terms of energy efficiency and economies of scale."

Money needs to be spent at the rink refurbishing the ice resurfacing machine, overhauling three compressors and replacing air cooling units.

The poor condition of the Cowley pools is spelt out in a separate report to the city council's executive which meets on Monday.

The facility, used by thousands of swimmers each year, looks like having to close in January for five weeks for repair work.

Jim Campbell, executive member for Better Finances, admitted the council faced a tough dilemma.

He said: "We have a new leisure vision for the city, with some radical changes in what the city provides. But it is a five- to 10-year time frame.

"At the same time we want to go on using these facilities for the next two years at least.

If we don't do this work they will be unusable. It is not a happy situation.

"With Temple Cowley Pool there is strong evidence that we will have to look seriously at the possibility of a new pool in that area, possibly combining it with a new ice rink.