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Proposal: PTC foot $21M for rink, sports complexTue, 06/03/2008 - 3:34pm
By: John Munford
Fitness club owner and former mayoral candidate Dar Thompson is proposing that Peachtree City issue $21 million in bond financing to pay for a new recreation complex on existing city-owned land with two ice rinks, one of which could be converted for indoor use for sports such as soccer and lacrosse. Thompson is also proposing to build four basketball and volleyball courts, two meeting rooms, a potential teen center and 19 acres of trails for cross country, jogging and passive uses. Those would be operated by the city’s recreation department, Thompson said. Also, he is proposing to build a privately-funded fitness center, which would be leased from the city over a 20-year period by his Better Bodies Fitness company for an estimated $3.2 million. Likewise, the ice rink complex would be leased for $7.2 million over 20 years by Center Ice Inc., a company that was founded to pursue a multiple rink ice sports facility. According to Thompson, most of the city’s rink construction costs will be recouped in that deal. The complex would be built on the northern undeveloped portion of the current Hwy. 74 North Baseball and Soccer Complex that is owned and operated by the city. The City Council is slated to discuss the proposal at the end of its meeting Thursday night at City Hall. Using bond financing for such a project would require voter approval, but first council must approve putting such a referendum on the ballot. Thompson owns several Gold’s Gym facilities in the area and has been unsuccessful in two recent bids for public office for the mayor’s seat and as a city council member. The main ice rink would seat up to 1,200 people and a secondary rink would seat 300; both would be used to host “at least four tournaments a year” for an estimated guest total of 6,000 and an estimated gross revenue of $2.4 million. Plans are to offer youth and adult ice hockey leagues along with figure skating and public skating. If the main rink’s ice is covered, it could seat up to 2,200 people, Thompson said. The facility would also include two meeting/banquet rooms that would be served by a kitchen and possibly used by civic groups. The potential “teen center” would be located above those rooms. The parking lot would have room for 850 cars, projected to be adequate for handling the tournament traffic and also serve as overflow parking for the baseball and soccer fields. Thompson is also proposing that in the future the site could be used for a performing arts theater, but funding for that is not included in the bond referendum. Thompson argues that the bond will cost the average household between $6 and $9 a month, which works out to $72-108 a year. He argues the project will give the city an edge when competing for families coming to live in Atlanta from areas that have had strong ice hockey and skating programs. “The south side of Atlanta is in need of an economic stimulus and the addition of the ice venues will certainly help to lure those Northwest Airlines families to the Peachtree City and Fayette County area,” Thompson said. He noted that Northwest’s home state, Minnesota, has more than 300 ice rinks. The fitness center, which would be a two-story 30,000-square-foot facility, is a “natural fit” because parents will be able to drop off their children for sports activities and use the facility while they wait for their children to be finished, Thompson said. He added that the fitness center was “kind of an afterthought” to the project and wasn’t included in the original proposal. login to post comments
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