Ice rink, market supporters hope city will stick to its master plan for land

Last of a three-part series

As debate continues over use of the tract of land next to Columbia’s Activity and Recreation Center, proponents of two plans, for an ice rink and for an enclosed farmers market, say their ideas have been part of the city’s master plan for 14 years and it’s time they were realized.

After a lengthy public hearing Aug. 17 on four proposals for development of the land — presented by the Columbia Youth Basketball Association, the First Ward community umbrella organization Positive Regional Impact Diversified Enterprise (P.R.I.D.E.), the Columbia Farmers Market and the Boone Ice Group (BIG) — members of Columbia’s Parks and Recreation Commission declined to recommend a project to the Columbia City Council, instead making plans to extend the discussion to the next meeting in September.

The original city master plan of 1992 included room for the Farmers Market and an ice rink. However, a ballot initiative to provide funding for the two facilities failed in 1994. In March 2002, the city gave the Farmers Market three years to raise $900,000 to build its building. The market asked for an extension, but the city refused to grant it. Prior to the 1999 election in which voters approved funding for the ARC, the Columbia City Council discussed a future ice rink, and City Council minutes from the time show that a public/private partnership to operate a rink was to be pursued.

Last fall voters rejected a ballot measure that would help fund an ice rink and a farmers market.

Proponents of the proposal presented by BIG say the $5 to $7 million plan should receive city funding because voters already have approved the idea, because the ice rink would provide a winter activity not offered in the community at this time and because the rink could generate income for the city through events such as university hockey games, ice shows, hockey tournaments, concerts and indoor winter sports, including soccer and lacrosse.

“[The city’s] initial master plan showed ‘future ice rink.’ It really wasn’t spelled out what that meant per se, whether the city was going to build the rink or private parties [were], but a lot of the public believed that land was going to be used for a rink one day,” said C.K. Hoenes, a member of BIG. “So it’s a little strange that we’re even having to have this conversation. The people voted for it already.”

After listening to the plans from the other groups competing for land near the ARC, Hoenes said he agreed that they all address important community needs.
“But what we don’t have in this town at all is access to an ice facility for all kinds of sports and recreation,” he said.

Few U.S. cities the size of Columbia lack ice rinks, BIG members say. Columbia had one in the 1970s, the Ice Chalet, which is now an antique mall. Since its closure 25 years ago, ice enthusiasts have had to travel to Jefferson City, Wentzville, St. Louis or Kansas City to skate.

Hoenes said the Ice Chalet closed not because of lack of use but because of poor management decisions. The owners spent too much money building a lavish facility, he said, borrowing at high interest rates.

“I grew up skating here at the Ice Chalet in the ‘70s and know what a great thing that was for the community at the time,” Hoenes said. “It was very, very well used and supported.”

Ice facilities are a difficult sell to investors, Hoenes said, because of the high startup costs. He said ice rinks are profitable but bring a slow return to investors. To be successful, they must be accessible to the public and allow for public use.

John Lamond, coach of the University of Missouri-Columbia hockey club team, said his team has to travel to Jefferson City to practice between 11:30 p.m. and 1 a.m., and he worries about the safety of his students, who have to drive home late at night. The plan would help both the team’s practice schedule and its recruiting efforts; Lamond said many prospective players are turned off by MU’s lack of facilities.

However, he rejects the idea that the project would primarily benefit MU. He said hundreds of people skate recreationally in Wentzville, a smaller town than Columbia; 1,000 to 1,200 fans attend Missouri State hockey games in Springfield; and many of the about 50 kids who play hockey in Jefferson City say they have friends who would play too if hockey were available in Columbia.

“I really think that people don’t realize what they’re missing because they haven’t had it in 26 years,” he said. “Once it did get here it would be a huge addition to finding recreational
activities for kids and adults in the winter.”

After hearing about the benefits of teaching kids basketball at the recent Parks and Recreation public hearing, Brian Hervey, a hockey coach and advocate of the ice rink option, told the commission that currently there are numerous basketball courts in Columbia for children to play on, but there is no place for children to ice skate except in Jefferson City.

“We teach kids, too,” Hervey said. “The only difference is that it’s on the ice and not on the basketball court. There need to be more options for kids in the wintertime.”

Farmers Market

The Farmers Market has asked for a 15-year lease on three acres to build a structure with a roof and enclosed space that would house restrooms, an office, storage and an enclosed canteen area with a kitchen.

The cost of the proposal is estimated to be $500,000 to $900,000 depending on
the building.

Before last fall’s ballot proposal failed at the polls, the community had hired an architect to design a structure that would meet the needs identified in public meetings.
“We’re going to do the fund-raising, and we’re going to try to build as much of a building as we can,” said Guy Clark, a longtime Columbia Farmers Market board member and former president of Sustainable Farms and Communities, which oversees the market. “We need more space than we currently occupy. As it is now, we’re taking up almost every square inch of that paved area.”

Open March through November, the market attracts about 3,000 customers each week during the summer months. In addition to vegetables and fruit, vendors there sell meat, baked goods, ice cream, honey and flowers.

“In many ways, the market was started by the community, with community input from the Chamber of Commerce, county extension, the Kiwanis Club, the Fair Board — all usually together, along with some farmers,” said Dan Kuebler, chair of Sustainable Farms and Communities.

“We’ve got a great history. We’ve proven that we can work with the city, we can work with the junior high, we can work with the community and we can work with other not-for-profit organizations,” he said.

Farmers Market proponents say their market is the activity that benefits the most diverse group of people.

“It’s the last bastion of true, broad-based community,” Clark said. “Everywhere else we go, we select for people who either think like we do, believe like we do, look like we do, or make the same kind of money we do. The market is a place where every aspect of the community comes.”

The market carries on the agricultural tradition of the old fairgrounds site. Although most of the vendors are part-time farmers, there are some who farm full time.
“It’s our home; we’ve been here for 23 of our 26 years of existence,” Clark said. “We provide a link to the agricultural nature of the space. The community wants us there, and even the city’s own survey said the community would support building the building with city money.”

“Most other cities in this country go to great lengths to attract a farmers market and put it in town,” said Mike McGowan, board member of Sustainable Farms and Communities. “Our town doesn’t seem to be very enthusiastic, even though they’ve got this fantastic farmers market.”

In fact, Columbia hosts two farmers markets. The Boone County Farmers Market split from the Columbia Farmers Market in 2002 to form its own organization and meets at another location.

“A lot of markets split in two when they try to build a building, and that’s what happened to our market,” Clark said. “It’s just part of the process, but our market is bigger now than it was before.”