Sean Pickett inquired about the Class of 1923 Ice Rink at Penn.
 
Yes it was built to open in '72.  It's all concrete and seats 2500.  It has
a nice, wide upper concourse (I guess for the anticipated SRO crowds) and
lots of locker room space on the ground level.  It has no lobby or Zamboni
pit. (Go figure!)  We spend more money in Zamboni tires because we have to
drive the thing around the driveway to dump it.
 
The athletic department originally managed the Rink.  They practiced zero
deferred maintenance.  After huge financial losses and the cutting of the
team, the Philadelphia Flyers took an interest in the building and leased
it from Penn for a couple of years.  They didn't do a thing except paint
some garish rainbow stripes on the interior walls and painted all the doors
Flyers' orange.  The Flyers went to Voorhees, NJ in '82 after losing more
money than the athletic department ever did.
 
The department I work for now took over operation in '83.  After a few
short seasons, we began building a longer season and are now up to about 28
weeks.  We receive no funding from Penn.  We've been holding our own since
'82 and have been repairing what's broken.  Our compressors are held
together with band-aids.  When I began as manager of the Rink in '87, I was
lucky to benefit from the success of the Flyers and the popularity of the
Olympic games.  People swarmed to the Rink.  (most of the staff quit,
too--they didn't want to work for a woman, so salaries were way down the
first two years.) We've leveled off a bit since the decline of the Flyers,
and since some other rinks were built on the coattails of their success.
 
Since '87 we've replaced the boards, the roof, and the rink lights.  We
don't have any money for the other big-ticket items we need (compressors,
rubber matting, air-handling).  If we have money at the end of the budget
year, we buy some stuff--rental skates, Zamboni parts, compressor pieces,
plumbing supplies, etc.
 
It's not a great way to live, but we are holding our own and skaters aren't
at risk.  I understand why the University won't just hand us a couple of
million for the compressors--we're not a great return on investment.  But,
on the other hand, if we cant' replace some of the big equipment, we'll
become another parking lot.  (Now *that's* a revenue-generator!)  I just
hope the Class of 23's descendents won't mind too much.  :-(  We have the
classic chicken and egg problem:  we can't get off-season events because we
don't have air conditioning.  But we can't get air conditioning until we
get the revenue from the off-season events.  AARRGGGHHH!
 
We work very hard each season to tap new markets and up our attendance and
ice rentals.  But there are more rinks than ever in Philly right now and it
is tough.  We wooed a couple of college team away from their old rinks, so
we now host Penn, Drexel, Widener, and LaSalle.  Villanova went to a brand
new rink, and Temple's program folded a few years ago.
 
This discussion today has been depressing.  And I apologize for rambling
on.
 
Well, looking for the silver lining, Penn's *women's* team is off to an
excellent start this season:  6-1!  They must be doing something right,
because the program has gotten bigger and better every year since I started
playing for them in '77.  :-)
 
Jill Maser
Penn
[log in to unmask]