City council skates over ice rink possibililty

    In a town many flock to when temperatures drop and the calendar flips to the holiday season, it's fitting that a temporary ice rink company called "Holiday on Ice" would be interested in Leavenworth. At the March 12 study session, the city council glided over the details about the possible ice rink, lodging tax group funding options and other assorted business.
    Rich Yakkey came to present his ice rink company and the proposal of a possible partnership with the city. Despite warm weather teasingly on the horizon and summer stretching ahead temptingly, the city is already looking to the 2019/2020 winter season - including the temporary ice rink in (possibly) Lion's Park.
    "I reached out to Joel several years back, he said we have a major parking problem, we're going to get through this - then we'll talk," said Yakkey.
    After a few years of Yakkey pining for Leavenworth and its holiday magic, city administrator, Joel Walinski, gave Yakkey a call back and informed him Leavenworth was ready for the possibility of an ice rink. Yakkey at the study session seemed to be eyeing Lion's Park for the location and the council seemed to be in agreement.
    "The best location is right here in the park (Lion's Park). It seems like the most secure, there's public bathrooms right there, it's got natural beauty, close to as flat as possible. We're right here next to the City Hall," said Yakkey.
    Besides bathroom accessibility, the pool parking lot offering parking space and being pretty level for the rink, in Lion's Park there would be more room than other possible locations to put up a larger rink - meaning they could accommodate more skaters. Normal capacity is around 200 skaters at once and the company is striving for 800-1000 people a day, according to Yakkey.
    "I feel like the location is critical. It's close enough to downtown, if we have visitors they'll come up here with their kids - if it was too far away that might not be the case. The other thing is visibility with the highway with the traffic is going to be wonderful," said Mayor Cheri Farivar.
    With the former popularity of a real ice rink, the Mayor predicts that the temporary, manually made ice rink, will be a hot (cold) spot for individuals to be drawn to. She also noted the busy hill that most have seen many little ones and their parents sled down late into the evening.
    "In the old days, we flooded this spot here with a fire hose in the winter and let Mother Nature freeze it for us," said Mayor Farivar. "It was so popular and so much fun, that I'm really excited about this idea."
    Tickets typically vary from $15 to $16 per ticket purchased, but Yakkey doesn't put a time cap on how long skaters have on the ice. Special rates and discounts for teams (i.e. a hockey or local skate team) that come out could be offered.
    Beyond the incentive of providing a new tangent of fun for both locals and tourists, there is a monetary element that pays off too. Holiday on Ice has offered to keep the first $200,000 of ticket sales then they'd give back 25% of the ticket sales to the city of Leavenworth. The city also prompted the company to collect zip codes so that there is the future possibility of using lodging tax money for the city's part of putting up the rink.
    "I think this is a real low risk for the city and I think it'll be successful, the neat thing is it will give us knowledge if we go forward," said Elmer Larsen, council member.
    As for when to keep eyes peeled for the icy attraction, the council discussed possibly opening the rink from November 1 to February 1 (nothing concrete yet). This is when most tourists are bustling around town looking for something to do - and that dreary time of year when some locals could start catching cabin fever and look for something new to do in town.
    "We have the ability to support the activity. I think it is a good test. A wonderful opportunity for both parties," said Larsen.