New Prague Area

Community Center

Town Meeting

Future Expansion Discussions of NPACC

April 26, 2005

INDEX

  1. Executive Summary
  1. Jason Witt Introductory Comments - Notes
  1. Sub-Group Meeting Notes

A. Hockey Association

B. Figure Skating Association

C. High School Program

D. Financing Options

E. Changes to Existing Facility

F. Features and Designs for a Facility Addition

G. Non-skating Uses for the ExistingBuilding

H. Closer Integration with Public and Parochial School Programs

  1. Jason Witt Invitation Letter, Agenda, and Questions

I. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

The Community Center Board of Directors hosted a Town Meeting on Tuesday, April 26, 2005. The purpose of the meeting was to gauge the level of interest in the community for the expansion or remodeling of the existing facility. The Board also requested feedback about remodeling priorities or design preferences if an addition to the existing facility is determined to be the best option.

The Board solicited attendance at the meeting with letters to various groups, i.e., hockey and figure skating parents, Rotary, Chamber of Commerce, and others. In addition, radio notice was given by KCHK and publicity was included in the New Prague Times. Approximately fifty people representing a wide range of community interests attended the meeting.

The process used for the meeting included opening remarks from Jason Witt, Chairman of the Board for the Community Center Board of Directors. In his remarks, Jason laid a foundation for the Town Meeting by describing the history and current status of the NewPragueAreaCommunity Center.

Following Jason’s remarks the meeting attendees were asked to participate in one of eight sub-group meetings to address specific questions that had been asked by the Board. Summaries of each sub-group and the detailed ideas developed in the sub-group meetings are included in this report.

The original intent of the meeting was to discuss two basic options for the Community Center. The first was to consider remodeling the existing facility. The second was to add an additional building and sheet of ice. It became clear in the sub-group meetings that a number of people are interested in a more comprehensive assessment of Community Center opportunities including a swimming pool, indoor tennis courts, fitness center, and other opportunities.

The sub-groups provided many excellent ideas and useful information. A summary for each group follows:

  1. Hockey Association. The hockey association has been active since the mid-1970s. It has grown rapidly in the lasts five years adding twenty to thirty players per year. The Association provides the Minnesota Hockey minimums for ice time at each age level, but some of our kids have to practice at 5:00 a.m. The association expects growth in numbers, more girls’ teams, and the potential addition of a Junior Gold Team when the numbers exceed what the High School program can handle.
  2. Figure Skating Association. The figure skating association was formed in 1998. It has been growing rapidly since inception in terms of numbers of participants and quality of programming. The association is now sanctioned by the United States Figure Skating Association. The future needs for the organization include more ice time, year-round ice, and the opportunity to hold a competition.
  3. High School Program. The boys’ high school program was started in 1979. The girls’ program started in 1999. Junior Varsity programs were added to both programs shortly after the varsity programs were started. More ice time is needed to support the four high school teams.
  4. Financing Options. The Community Center was built ten years ago for approximately $1.1 million ($250,000 Mighty Ducks grant, $200,000 loan from Wells Fargo and State Bank, and $650,000 from individual andbusiness contributors). The facility is now worth approximately $2 million and carries debt of less than $200,000, so the equity position is excellent. The key to how much financing would be available for a remodeling or building addition will be a well-thought out Business Plan and carefully justified cash flow statement. The existing positive cash flow of the Community Center and the strong financial support of the Hockey Association are important foundations of the Business Plan.
  5. Changes to Existing Facility. This sub-group identified the need for a dehumidification system as our top priority. Balcony seating over the mezzanine, an outdoor message board, batting cages, and shirt sales were also noted as immediate priorities. A number of other suggestions were also made and these are summarized in the attachments.
  6. Features and Designs for a Facility Addition. This sub-group thought broadly and creatively about the question they were asked. They suggested a wide range of Community Center uses that went far beyond the addition of another sheet of ice. They also emphasized the importance of reaching out to create new partnerships with the HospitalFitnessCenter, the City of New Prague, the School District, the Hockey Association, the Figure Skating Association, and other potential users of an expanded facility. A list of potential uses this group came up with is listed in the attachments.
  7. Non-skating Uses forExistingBuilding. More trade show type events were suggested. It was noted the Community Center is one of the largest in-door open spaces in the region. Purchaseof a sub-floor for use when the ice is off would create many new rental options. The facility could be used as storage space during the off-season.
  8. Closer Integration with Public and Parochial Schools. The partnership with the schools works well. High School hockey programs, use as an alternative phy ed option, use of high school parking as overflow for Community Center events, use of Community Center parking lot for overflow high school parking, and miscellaneous other uses for the high school.

The Town Meeting generated a number of new ideas and offered the Community Center Board a comprehensive perspective on the remodeling or expansion of the Community Center. New partnerships with the FitnessCenter and the City were discussed. Old partnerships with the Banks, the School District, the Hockey Association, and the Figure Skating Association were articulated and their importance to the Community Center noted. The Financial strength of the Community Center was evaluated and determined to be strong. Positive cash flow, low debt, and a facility worth close to two million dollars.

The Board needs to decide which of the following three alternatives it wants to pursue:

  1. Remodel with existing partners
  2. Add a sheet of ice with existing partners
  3. Create a total Community Center with many new partners and many new programs and amenities

Once the choice is made a Business Plan needs to be developed including a financial program that will support the proposed Business Plan.

II. Jason Witt Introductory Comments – Notes

  • People met and discussed a possibility of a building like this since the mid 1970’s when New Prague Hockey was formed.
  • Twenty years later the High School Boys were informed they would have to practice before school leaving at 4:00am for Le Sueur. We said enough was enough and decided to get it done.
  • First meeting was February of 1994
  • Applied for the Mighty Duck Grant in 1995 – turned down
  • Applied again in 1996 and were granted $250,000 grant from the state with the help of the New Prague Economic Development Authority
  • Started raising money Fall of 1995.
  • Raised $650,000 in cash or in-kind donated materials and labor from Hockey parents, businesses, social organizations and other grants, received $250,000 from the Mighty Ducks Grand and $200,000 was financed through a local bank.
  • Construction started May of 1996.
  • Completed and opened for business on December 1, 1996.
  • Been open for 9 years
  • In those years we have seen significant growth in the hours used by our community. We started having to rent as much time as possible to other communities.
  • Now with the growth of girl’s hockey and figure skating and boys hockey we have kids skating before school five days a week.
  • Improvements made since opening:
  • Bleachers
  • New Ice resurfacer
  • Construction of the hospitality room
  • Heat over the bleachers
  • Acquisition of table and chairs and electrical to accommodate large events like the antique show and business expo.
  • Construction of the press box
  • Construction of the girl’s high school locker room and coaches room.
  • Parking lot paving in three separate phases
  • The economic impact of the center is quite large: From October to March, on average 600 nonresidents a week visit our community for events at the center. The center generates over $1,000,000 of economic activity in our community annually. Our restaurants, hotels, and convenience stores benefit the most with retailers and the hospital close behind.
  • Off season events continue to grow We have held:
  • Crafts shows
  • Antique shows
  • Business expo
  • Circus
  • All Star Wrestling
  • Homecoming float building
  • Garage sale fundraiser
  • Adult and youth dances
  • Birthday party’s
  • Annual skate with Santa with the chamber
  • Bird shows
  • Baseball and Softball Practice
  • Conferences
  • Wedding
  • We are here today to hear from you. We want to know from the community at large and the groups that utilize the building the most what you think our needs are for the future. We would also like to hear from those of you that were gracious enough to attend that don’t use the building that often how we could make it better suited for the community needs.

Jim Morris will set up the small group meetings we will be having. We will get back together to share the comments.

THANK YOU all for coming!!

III. Sub-Group Meeting Notes

  1. WHAT IS THE HISTORY AND FUTURE OF THE HOCKEY ASSOCIATION?
  2. Program started in mid-1970s – has grown steadily since
  • 02-0312 teams
  • 03-0414 teams
  • 04-0515 teams
  • 05-06expect 16 teams
  • Over 20 mites added each of past two years
  • It would be helpful to correlate players andSchool District and City population to provide a more accurate forecast of future growth. We know the population will continue to increase, but we don’t know how much.
  • Each team needs more hours – at Minnesota Hockey minimum now – other associations have more per team
  • Need comparison to District 6 programs – will shift affect teams?
  • Increased cost of extra ice is a problem for all skaters. We don’t know when it simply becomes too expensive.
  • Summer ice availability and hockey/figure skating camps would provide a great boost to our ice related programs.
  • Showcase hockey in association
  • Boys Junior Gold – girls hockey growth
  1. WHAT IS THE HISTORY AND FUTURE OF THE FIGURE SKATING ASSOCIATION?
  2. Sanctioned by USFS
  3. Formed in 1998
  4. Increasing membership each year
  5. Increased show attendance each year
  6. Members are youth to adult
  7. Increasing number of hours we’ve purchased each year

NEEDS

  • Year round skating
  • Learn to skate program develop further
  • More available ice time
  • Host a competition
  • Test sessions here

HISTORY

  • 20-30 hours of ice
  • Met Tuesday evenings and Saturday afternoons
  • Show at end Formed October 1998 – first season – USFSA puts clubs on probation for the first year
  • 20 members
  • Show at end of season (March)
  • Coach donated time to teach group lessons (all beginners) during club time. Did this for 3 years. Like a Learn To Skate program.
  • 2005 – had 35 members – youth to adult (ages 7 to adult)
  • Structure changed to private lessons during club time
  • Consistently Coach T.J. – have had other coaches
  • Ice time 2004/2005 season about 56 hours
  • Added Wednesday nights: Learn to Skate ½ hour followed by 1 hour club ice time
  • 2003-2004: 2 mornings/week – not club time – pay per time per hour (like open skate) at higher fee
  • Club purchased a jumping harness 2004-2005 season
  • Notes on end of year annual show
  • Sanctioned by USFS
  • No fee charged at door
  • 375 attendees
  • Our skaters represent this club in competitions, tests achieved lists names in Skating magazine by USFS (United States Figure Skating Association)
  • Our club buys ice time at Dakotah during summer

NEEDS

Ability to skate year round in New Prague

Develop strong Learn to Skate program feeds into club members and hockey members. Timing is a problem - Wednesday nights forces people to choose between religion and skating

More morning ice available – open free style skate – ice not sold to groups

NPACC locker room

Sound system (CD drive stuck when cold)

Warmer ice arena

Softer ice (disadvantage to practice on hard ice and compete on soft ice at other rinks)

Meeting room

Host a competition (part day Friday, all day Saturday, part day Sunday – basically one whole weekend)

  1. WHAT IS THE HISTORY AND FUTURE OF THE HIGH SCHOOL HOCKEY PROGRAM?
  2. 79-80 season boys start
  3. Home ice at Le Sueur
  4. Practice Monday (during season) – game Tuesday during the first year
  5. 95-96 At Le Sueur – no practice Wednesdays – dry land, street hockey
  6. 96-97 Two weeks in the morning before school, then after school
  7. Usage – skate varsity and junior varsity together early – now skate separately
  8. 99-00 season girls start – Varsity only
  9. 03-04 Junior Varsity was added – added another hour of ice

FUTURE OF PROGRAM

  • Junior Gold?
  • Not co-op – Montgomery-Lonsdale/AA
  • Growth is a numbers game
  • Numbers = more talent, more depth
  • Boys need more ice time (1/2 hour)
  • Boys get to state and stay
  • Girls perennial state tournament
  1. WHAT ARE THE FINANCING OPTIONS FOR AN EXPANSION OR REMODELING?
  • Public funding through local banks
  • Individual low interest loans through local banks for contributions
  • Grants? Explore opportunities
  • City/County funds
  • State/federal funds
  • Capital campaigns

ADDITIONAL NOTES

  • Facility value $1.5 - $2.0 million (debt $160,000 – strong equity)
  • Positive cash flow from operations
  • Strong financial support from hockey association
  • Public financing options
  • Strong Business Plan (strategic) is needed
  • Advertising (increasing)
  • Ability of facility to support debt depends on cash flow not equity
  • Assess the alternative uses and their revenue potential
  • Mortgage potential of building – leverage equity
  • How much business are we turning away – potential revenue
  • Hockey foundation/donation/participation
  1. WHAT ARE THE MOST IMPORTANT CHANGES THAT NEED TO BE MADE TO THE EXISTING FACILITY?

Top Priorities

  • Dehumidifier
  • Outdoor message board
  • Batting cages
  • SkatePark
  • Determine what the market for summer ice will be
  • Balcony seating (elevator) – mezzanine

Secondary Priorities

  • Shirt sales
  • Paint beams white
  • Higher panels around perimeter
  • Bigger locker rooms – new floor mats
  • Grease board in locker rooms
  • Improve bleacher seating
  • Improved lighting (indirect/yellow)
  • New netting
  • Expand pro shop
  • Improve bathrooms
  1. WHAT FEATURES AND DESIGN SHOULD BE CONSIDERED FOR AN ADDITION TO THE EXISTING FACILITY?
  • Multi-use swimming (swim school, lap swimming, competition)
  • FitnessCenter – partner
  • Exercise rooms
  • Indoor track
  • Basketball courts
  • Sauna
  • Whirlpool
  • Weight room
  • Child care
  • Martial arts
  • Massage
  • Racquetball
  • Tennis court
  • Soccer
  • Year round ice – new game sheet
  • Kitchen and bar to expand potential uses
  • Conference rooms
  • Tip-up building – expand to west
  • Consider relocation to new site
  • Partner with Knights of Columbus
  • Off ice use (La Crosse)
  • Movie theater
  • Don’t build just a roof
  1. WHAT NON-ICE SKATING RELATED USES SHOULD BE MADE OF THE EXISTING FACILITY AND AN ADDITION TO THE BUILDING?

Existing Building

  • More trade show type events (the Community Center is one of the largest in-door open spaces in the region, it could be used for more regional industry related trade-show events)
  • Consider purchasing a sub-floor to be used when the ice is off (a sub-floor would be very helpful for activities like La Crosse, in-door baseball and softball practice, tennis)
  • Storage facility (the State Fair ground is one of the largest storage facilities in the state.) When the ice is off during the summer, the community center’s ice surface could be converted to a storage facility. This could generate thousands of dollars during the off-ice season with very low operating expenses.
  • Consider partnering with the Community Ed group for more off-ice activities

Future Expansion

  • Pool (possible partnership with School District/City/Hospital
  • Weight room, fitness center, gymnasium, basketball/racquet ball courts
  • Senior Citizens Center/Senior Activity Center
  • Additional meeting space
  • Community Center/Community Hub (central community center hub for New Prague and surrounding area. This hub concept would draw from New Market/Elko, Lonsdale, Jordan, Belle Plaine areas)
  1. HOW CAN THE FACILITY BE BETTER INTEGRATED INTO THE OVERALL PUBLIC AND PAROCHIAL SCHOOL PLANS?
  • Create partnerships between the Community Center and the Schools (Tim mentioned the successful partnership related to the parking lot both paying for the surfacing and leasing to students)
  • Work together as a larger group (Community Center, Schools, Hospital, Churches to create Community Hub/Community Center
  • New Prague is becoming more of a commuter’sarea; we need to develop a community center to keep the children busy during the after-school hours.

IV.Jason Witt Invitation Letter, Agenda, and Questions