The second time’s the charm.
A covered ice skating rink will open in the heart of downtown Tacoma this winter, one year after a similar effort stalled for lack of money and uncertain electrical power.
This year, the Tacoma Art Museum, Franciscan Health System and Texas-based Ice Rink Events have signed on the dotted line to open Franciscan Polar Plaza, a temporary rink at Tollefson Plaza at the corner of Pacific Avenue and South 17th Street.
“That plaza usually isn’t a dynamic, vibrant place,” Steve Barger, a local businessman and member of the art museum board, said Saturday. “The art museum is always saying we want to be Tacoma’s living room. So the ice rink could be a playground for our living room. It just sounded like fun.”
The rink will be about half the size of a hockey rink. It will have real ice and hold about 150 skaters at a time. Admission will be $8, and skate rental will be $2. It will open the day after Thanksgiving and close Jan. 2, though it might stay open longer if there’s demand.
Polar Plaza is one of two temporary rinks planned in Pierce County this season. The Puyallup Main Street Association will open a plastic-surface rink around the same time, but it will close in early December.
Bringing the rink to Tacoma went beyond a simple business deal. Affection for the city is the common thread, from a manager at the ice rink company who grew up playing hockey at Pierce County’s Sprinker Recreation Center to a museum deputy director who sees the empty plaza each day and knows it can come to life.
Cameron Fellows of the art museum and John Civitello of Ice Rink Events have talked by phone each month since last year’s plans fell through, they said in interviews last week. Fellows and museum director Stephanie Stebich worked with a museum board committee on feasibility.
Then this spring, Franciscan Health System agreed to donate $25,000. Another hometown success, Columbia Bank, is a secondary sponsor. The downtown Marriott hotel and electrical union workers are donating access, time and supplies to set up the infrastructure so it can handle a 40 foot by 100 foot rink. Barger’s business – Northwest Cascade, a division of which provides Honey Bucket portable toilets – also is a supporter.
“We really looked at it as something that’s family friendly, it supports downtown, it’s something that can create memories for years to come, and hopefully will be an annual tradition,” said Budd Wagner, marketing vice president for Franciscan.
A lead sponsor was one major piece missing from last year. After Franciscan agreed to participate, the museum and the company set up a deal to share the risk. The museum guaranteed it will raise $90,000. The company won’t earn money until the rink meets a certain attendance threshold. After that it will share the profit with the museum, which plans to use the money for the rink in 2012.
“We don’t care if we make money on it,” Barger said. “If we can break even and have a great time, and bring something new and vibrant, it will be worth it.”
The break-even point is around 20,000 tickets, Fellows and Civitello said.
“My company is willing to do this, and we’re confident this will be a success. Even if we don’t make our number, it will be a success for the city,” said Civitello, a company project manager. “I grew up there. I would really love for this to happen” each year.
Fellows said the museum is a little more than half-way to its fundraising goal. He’s trying to sign up another secondary sponsor. And he plans to sell about 30 so-called dasherboards, which are a form of advertisement that will line the rink similar to the signs on the Rainiers’ outfield fence.
Museum staff members hope local businesses will work with artists on some of the dasherboards, in keeping with the rink’s theme of “Art, Ice and Everything Nice.” But another possible art piece rests in the design of the rink’s canopy and rafters.
Fellows said there will be a warm-beverage service, but the goal is for people to defrost in downtown restaurants.
Another obstacle to launching the rink last year was uncertainty over the source of electricity to run it. Fellows said local electrical union workers have been invaluable in figuring out the best system.
The rink will be powered through either a vault in the plaza, which is public property, or at the Mariott hotel, Fellows said. Tacoma Power still must approve a design.
Klaas DeBoer of the National Electrical Contractors Association said electricians from a handful of local companies are donating labor and material, and they’re setting up a separate meter to track the power.
“We always like to do anything we can to help the community and inspire the community to pull together,” DeBoer said last week.
Kathleen Cooper: 253-597-8546 kathleen.cooper@thenewstribune.com
FRANCISCAN POLAR PLAZA
WHERE: Tollefson Plaza, on the corner of Pacific Avenue and South 17th Street in Tacoma
WHEN: Nov. 25-Jan. 2
HOURS: 4 p.m. - 10 p.m. Monday through Friday; 10 a.m. - 10 p.m. Saturday; 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Sunday; During Tacoma schools’ winter break, the rink will open at 10 a.m. on weekdays.
ADMISSION: $8
SKATE RENTAL: $2. Sizes from a child’s 8 to an adult’s 14.
RINK DETAILS: It will be covered, and there will be a warming area where people can watch. “Skate guards” will circulate to ensure no more than 150 or so people are on the ice at one time.
ONLINE: www.polarplaza.org
VOLUNTEERS: Call 253-722-2454 or email polarplaza@tacomaartmuseum.org
PRIVATE EVENT RENTAL OR CONTRIBUTIONS: Call 253-722-2455 or email contributions@polarplaza.org
CHRISTMAS TREES: Justin Mayfield, who for two years has sold trees from Tollefson Plaza, still has a spot for his business.
JOIN THE DISCUSSION | Register here
We welcome comments. Please keep them civil, short and to the point. ALL CAPS, spam, obscene, profane, abusive and off topic comments will be deleted. Repeat offenders will be blocked. Thanks for taking part — and abiding by these simple rules. A thorough explanation of rules of conduct can be found in our Terms of Service. If you have any questions, including why your comment may not be showing immediately after you submit it, be sure to visit the commenting FAQ.