Skydiving Santa returns to Longmont

After the inaugural skydiving Santa last year, I mentioned that this could be a good annual Longmont tradition. So it was great to see Santa drop from the sky again this year at Roosevelt Park, on a slightly warmer day this time, with blue skies and no wind.


Longmont is fairly well-known on the Front Range by the skydiving community, so this event makes sense in building up an event around one of our strengths.


I don't remember the post-touchdown "swarm" last year.


Unlike last year, the skating rink has already been open for a few weeks now.


Thanks to Brigette at the Longmont Examiner for mentioning that this event was happening this year. I didn't see the announcements, and would have missed the event altogether.

Holiday parade is tonight at 5 PM!

Longmont skating was good in January, 1926

Longmont ice skating was natural back in the 1920s, perhaps recalling Councilwoman Mary Blue's experiences when she was raising her children in Michigan. When the lake freezes it is skating time, with a little help to keep areas properly flooded and to keep the snow off. This is contrast to conventional wisdom today that says that a skating rink cannot exist on Colorado's Front Range without artificial life support.

Sunset Park was were the action was, although you also read reports of folks skating down the frozen St. Vrain River during this time. Hmm, didn't the rocks get in the way? The lake mentioned below was used as a swimming area in the summer.

From the Longmont Ledger, January 22, 1926, with appropriate commentary about it getting rough out there sometimes:

The continued cold weather has given skaters a good season at their favorite sport. The park board has kept the snow scraped off the the ice and have flooded it occasionally in spots and the lake in general has been good.

The ice is crowded every night. There is always a game of "Pull Away" or "Tag" among the big boys which is great fun for them but makes skating difficult for the others who are not in it.

Skating is great sport and the skaters appreciate the efforts of the park board in keeping the ice in condition.

Skydiving Santa opens Longmont Ice Rink for 2007-2008

On a cold (-5 C) but bright Saturday morning, the controversial Ice Pavilion opened with a good line of skaters queued up and a skydiving Santa to kick things off! I'd be interested in how cold it up there was when Santa was launched from the plane! A big thanks to Mile-Hi Skydiving for providing the parachuting Santa and more importantly, for the generous contribution to keep the rink running.

It was great that the weather cooperated for the skydive. Initial forecasts for the weekend had snow and clouds moving in, and it was announced last week that the skydiving team would make their decision by 9 AM whether to make the jump at 10. Luckily, it was clear skies and no wind.

Jeff Friesner (with megaphone) of the City's Recreation Department provides some opening words. The mayor and some of City Council are next to him.




A skydiving Santa would be a good annual Longmont tradition, weather permitting.


Touchdown!


The rink right before first opening, Zamboni'ed and all ready to go:

Longmont Ice Pavillion is back!

The Longmont Ice Pavillion is back for the 2007-2008 year!

Target opening day is December 22

Notes from the Longmont City Council Meeting tonight, on the subject of looking for ways to keep the ice rink open after it was decided two months ago that it would not open this year.

• Jeff from the city: $46K needed to keep the rink running.
• The estimate from the city for the construction of an all-year indoor ice rink at the Longmont Quail campus: $14 million.
• Councilwoman B lue: We should be charging more; a Lakewood ice center is charging $6 per visit.
• Councilwomen Benker: A community event could be organized to raise the funds to buy a Zamboni for next year.
• Councilman Hansen: We really need to understand how long we intend to keep the Roosevelt Pavillion vs. the all-year rink. 2 years? 5 years? Long range intentions are important in guiding this decision.
• Councilwoman Blue: We have to make some sacrifices, and the ice rink has to be one of them. My kids enjoyed skating when they were growing up in Michigan, but it's easier to keep things frozen up there.
• Councilwoman Benker: If we do decide to open this year, we should make Christmas Eve free, to attract community interest.
• Councilman Hansen, in response to one of the points raised earlier in the evening from a citizen, stating that an ice rink is not a wise operation, given the energy costs and global warming trends. Councilman's point was that people are going to drive elsewhere, to Louisville and Lafayette, if there is no rink in Longmont, which which also impacts the environment. Disclaimer: the citizen voicing this opinion lives right behind the rink on 8th Avenue.
• Councilwoman Levison: City foundation could set up a fund to permit contributions, matching funds, etc.
• Councilman Hansen: Is there any liability in allowing citizens to work voluntarily on the Zamboni? City response: that has already happened in the past and is not an issue.
• Mayor Lange: Nobody was against the ice rink when the initial decision was made. Budget was the driving force behind the ice rink decision two months ago.
• Mayor Lange: Two months ago we told the public that we had no funds. Public perception could be negatively altered if we suddenly announce that we found some money to keep the rink going.
• Councilwoman Levison made the motion to use the City Council's $19,000 contingency fund to go toward the opening of the ice rink.
• Councilwoman Blue: nervous about throwing all of contingency fund to this effort, on quick notice, and in the community being able to raise $27K, also in short notice.
• Councilwoman Benker: The contingency fund runs out in a month; not much risk in using it up at this time, given that there are few council meetings left in this calendar year to allocate it. There are also other creative ways to get funds, within the budget.
• Jeff from the City: fund raising should be targeted to 2008-2009. Not much time left to make this happen by December 22.
• City Manager Pedrow: Give us the $19K, we'll get the rink going and we'll come back with options for the rest of the operating funds needed. "We will make this work". Serious concern: we're using a one-time fund to sustain an ongoing operation. No source of revenue going forward.
• Mayor Lange: easy to make a decision on a one-time deal vs. a long term commitment. This was the dilemma faced by the previous council.
• Councilman McCoy: Longmont community is special and they will support the rink. Had they been given notice back in June/July, community efforts could have been started earlier.
• Mayor Lange: Reluctantly changing vote; initially thought the equipment was in much worse shape.

Vote:      YES:  Benker, McCoy, Lange, Hansen, Levison
                NO:   Blue:

A big thank you to councilwoman Levison for driving the issue and to the other council members who voted in favor of keeping this community resource. Also, congratulations to the community for the grass-roots support and volunteer efforts.

[Edit:  November 10, 2015:  Convert to a supported font]

Longmont Ice Rink update

An update on the Longmont Ice Rink situation, as previously reported.

Last night, newly elected councilwoman Sarah Levison asked city staff to come back with some financial numbers on how to keep the rink operational. The read-out is scheduled for November 27.

I'm glad to see the volunteer component being introduced and offered, as a true sign that the community is interested in keeping the rink open, even if it is more of a capital issue vs. staffing. Is it also being suggested that volunteers could repair and maintain the failing equipment? That would be even better!

Bye Bye Longmont Ice Rink

Just like that, the Longmont Ice Rink at the jovially-nicknamed Pirnack Pavilion is history. The City Council of Longmont, Colorado unanimously voted to not to fund it anymore, in response to deepening budget problems.

As a frequent skater at the rink over the previous winters, there was nothing like the experience of getting outside on a weekend and skating with your friends, neighbors, and teachers at our hometown rink. Lost to the City Council was the spillover of the skaters to nearby businesses; downtown is only blocks away. Instead, skaters and their families will now need to take their business to other communities, and it's a lose-lose deal for us - we have to drive miles away, not see our neighbors at the rink, use up gas and time, and the other towns get our sales tax dollars. This will be happening in a town that is struggling to get more people downtown. Over the summer, in city council hearings about a proposed parking garage that was being positioned as a catalyst for increasing downtown visitors, a consistent theme emerged: people need a reason to go downtown; the building of a multi-level parking structure will not change behavior if there are no attractions.

Much like I see in other cities, I'd argue that the skating rink could have been one of the building blocks in getting families downtown and outdoors, especially during our beautiful, mild winters. Gordon Pedrow, the city manager didn't see it that way and neither did the Council and the end result was that the ice rink is gone.

With the ice rink gone, it is now reasonable to question the existence of the Pavilion. Does it make sense to pay maintenance dollars for such a structure, merely to provide a roof over the bands that play during some concerts in the summer, and perhaps host a few weddings? I'm guessing that renting a tent would be less expensive for the City and the taxpayers. Was an ice rink part of the incentive to get the Pavilion built? How much did we pay for this structure, only to have it sit idle from September to May?

There are murmurs of an ice rink being planned in the Quail Master Plan area in the south part of the City. Ignoring for now that it is not funded, this is another sign of 1970s-style planning where facilities (Rec Centers, Museums, Malls, etc.) are pushed to the outskirts of towns, further condemning and emptying downtowns. Then, at City Council meetings, it appears as a big mystery, requiring hours of debate and tens of thousands of consulting dollars, why nobody comes downtown!

Budget deficits are tough issues. Nobody is entitled to a municipal skating rink and we're glad we had its few years in existence. It was great to see so many kids get on the blades for the first time, out there. What drives citizen distrust and apathy, however, is that only a few days after the ice rink was axed, and smack in the middle of a budget crisis, we read that the Council authorized the spending of $6000 for a blight study of our local mall! And just a month ago, the City was proposing to spend $150,000 on a consultant to tell us how to make our spending cuts, in light of the budget shortfall! How Dilbertesque is that? Luckily, this was not approved. Let's track these type of expenses over the Winter, perhaps on a boondongle-o-meter and see if our ice rink could have been saved (I'll add updated entries as I see other gems like the blight study!).

Where can we go skate now? Please leave a comment if you have experiences with other family-friendly skating rinks, preferably outdoor ones, within a 30 mile radius of Longmont. I'll round up the suggestions and post some reviews over the Winter.


Finally, to the City of Longmont webmaster, it's time to change some web pages!

1. Longmont Ice Pavillion
2. "Family Winter Fun" at Roosevelt Park
3. Renting the Ice Rink
4. City of Longmont Recreation Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

You too, Longmont Area Visitor's Association

[Edit: November 10, 2015:  Convert to a supported font]