Crunch time for ice rink plan

Dammon Paul needs $135,000 to get the synthetic ice rink off the ground. Photo/File

The brains behind a proposed Rotorua ice rink facility have less than two months to come up with $135,000 to get the project off the ground.

The Ice For Life Rotorua Community Trust must pay a 30 per cent deposit on the 900sq m synthetic ice rink by July 15 if they are to get it in time for the 2015 school year. Once it arrives, they will train a number of teachers on the surface ready to give free lessons in schools and to paying members of the public.

Trustee Dammon Paul said the total cost of $453,000 included 400 pairs of skates, sharpeners, cleaning machines and rubber flooring to go underneath the synthetic ice.

But he said it would pay for itself. Rotorua District Council expects around 20,000 visitors to experience the Harcourts ice rink, which opens to the public for a month from June 26.

"This whole project can easily sustain itself and still inject money into Rotorua," Mr Paul said.

He said the council had told the trust it was unlikely to fund the project, after hearing a submission to the annual plan.

"Unlikely doesn't mean no but it means we have to work a lot harder, that's why we need people's support."

He said he was seeking commercial sponsorship to help secure the ice rink, as well as applying to trusts to be able to pay the deposit.

Synthetic ice rinks are already used in the United States by the Florida Panthers NHL team and for recreational purposes in Brazil, Saudi Arabia and Australia. They require no water and no power.

Mr Paul hopes to have the public rink set up by Christmas and then move it to a school in February 2015. He said the rink would be available to students during the day and opened to the public, who would pay for access, in the evenings. He said there would be opportunities for people to learn ice hockey or advanced skating.

Earlier this year, he travelled to Spain to try two different synthetic rinks and he said he was "blown away" by his experience. "It far exceeded my expectations. I spent an hour and a half skating on it."

To support the trust, go here.