(09-23-2017 09:07 PM)bikechuck Wrote: The cost of an ice arena could be shared with the DeKalb Sycamore community. I have seen this work in similar communities. A well managed arena is in use 12 or more hours per day, seven days a week. Ice time is rented out to figure skating clubs, youth hockey, high school hockey and open skating for the general public.
Could be that NIU cannot currently afford the sport but the facility itself could be built and maintained without being an economic drain.
Also, there is no need to call comments that others contribute stupid.
The DeKalb-Sycamore community needs to be convinced to once again support NIU athletics in general, not share the cost of an ice arena.
There is zero evidence of the kind of interest or need necessary for an ice arena. What works in one community is not guaranteed to work in another and if it's so easy to have a well-managed arena, what's the ratio of suburban cities that have one versus the ones that don't? There's one in St. Charles that just closed.
High School hockey? Do you realize DeKalb and Sycamore are part of a co-op for a high school team out of Belvidere? When those one or two kids graduate, doubt the co-op continues.
You yourself say "could be that NIU cannot currently afford the sport," then why build it? DeKalb tried a small skating park near downtown as part of the Christmas/winter season and it was an economic failure.
NIU's enrollment continues to drop, education funding continues to be trimmed, no one wants increased taxes, every developer demands TIFs, and a person in Colorado Springs, CO, re-hashed this topic with support from Dublin, OH, and Wicker Park. But they know what local people want.
Fine, replace Stupid with Unrealistic. And the next time you're in town, please consider joining me at a Huskie volleyball, soccer, wrestling, tennis, gymnastics, baseball, softball, or track event, any of which would welcome more fan support.