Ice sports shafted by Cardiff Council…again

Jones72

Jones72

Active Member
#1
Thread starter #1
Just been told that the ice sports community has been shafted AGAIN by Cardiff Council.

The second ice pad is being binned off and is now getting rented out to a group who want to put…a climbing wall there. A CLIMBING wall!!!

What possible reason is there to create yet another bloody climbing centre in South Wales?

Supposedly a tenancy agreement, however if what I heard materialises then they will be reconstructing and adding a new entrance, cafe…and pumping concrete into the pad area. So any notion that it’s possible to revert to its original purpose goes out of the window.

We got screwed over by the council when they wanted to build the new shopping centre. Ended up in a temporary building for ten years.

They eventually went out to tender for a purpose built facility which included two ice pads which catered for demand across the multiple sports that use it.

Now they quietly make an arrangement behind closed doors that permanently closes half of the capacity they agreed to provide in order to provide a facility that’s not needed in south Wales…and if it really *was* needed…could have been put up in the vacant ToysRUs site next door.

Tossers.

Noise needs to be made.
 
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pjj365

Well-Known Member
#2
#2
How long has the 2nd pad been out of use? It makes no commercial sense to have the main pad empty when the 2nd is busy
Providing all other skaters - hockey, rec, dance etc. can work around Devils requirements then an alternative makes sense - not sure about a climbing wall though
Given the Council's history this is worth keeping an eye on though
 
Legin

Legin

Active Member
#3
#3
I believe it was one of the bidders for the lease that suggested the climbing wall as a way of bringing in revenue to help keep the whole enterprise viable. This would help keep the arena as a going concern otherwise we would loose it altogether. The council have said it must run without any subsidy from them. Therefore it may even have been the Devils who suggested this. Maybe someone else may have greater insight. I did think we would have heard who is going to get the leasehold by now.
 
Kevlar68

Kevlar68

Well-Known Member
#4
#4
The thinking may be that public skating and climbing walls go hand in hand.
An activity day of skating then on to the climbing centre as a package ticket or maybe some people will go skating and after that decide to try the climbing centre or visa versa also with a view point from the bar for the climbing centre it could also improve wet sales.
You also get groups that book skating so having both in one building may encourage more group bookings such as schools, youth clubs, junior groups etc.
Once structures are built there would be no ongoing costs apart from the staff to supervise the climbers unlike an ice pad plant which would cost so much more to be running 24 hours a day.
I think if it hadn't been for the double hit of Covid and then energy costs the second pad would still be up and running.
Swansea have a new centre called Crazy Climb that seems to be popular.

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Jones72

Jones72

Active Member
#6
Thread starter #6
Legin said:
I believe it was one of the bidders for the lease that suggested the climbing wall as a way of bringing in revenue to help keep the whole enterprise viable. This would help keep the arena as a going concern otherwise we would loose it altogether. The council have said it must run without any subsidy from them. Therefore it may even have been the Devils who suggested this. Maybe someone else may have greater insight. I did think we would have heard who is going to get the leasehold by now.
Click to expand...
Revenue for the reused pad two would be entirely segregated from the rink. New entrance, new cafe area, separate operations. The only added benefit is rental income to the council. That may mean a partial rental reduction for the remaining ice rink portion of the building, but I would be surprised if it was a comparable reduction to the rent raised on the reused pad 2 area.

Would love to know more about the proposed usage, benefits, etc., but this all seems to be going on behind closed doors.
 
lloyd_jeff

lloyd_jeff

Well-Known Member
#7
#7
This was discussed and pointed out in a thread several weeks ago. The 2nd pad isn’t economically viable, the council have no funding to run the IAW, there have been 4 bids to run the venue. If no agreement for a viable long term business model by a serious lease holder,the venue as a whole will cease to be an ice venue. Cardiff Devils will not have a venue to play & it’ll be either demolished or repurposed into a viable venue. Simple fact is the running cost far out way it’s income. Sorry Wannabe, that’s the reality of the situation. So far my whispers are that none of the 4 bidders are willing to indemnify all the risk & the Council won’t budge on taking part of that risk. I’ve also heard that turning the venue into an indoor Go Cart track, multi sport activity venue without any ice pads is being discussed as a plan B by a company not interested in keeping the ice pad.
 
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kingmo19.1

Well-Known Member
#9
#9
I hope the A&E department at the Health will be recruiting a few more staff !

Come to the IAW - if you don’t break your neck ice skating, you can have a further attempt to do so on the climbing wall :)
 
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Earnie

Well-Known Member
#10
#10
If they have decided on a climbing wall you would have thought at the same time there would be an announcement on the operator.
 
Swarley

Swarley

Well-Known Member
#11
#11
Earnie said:
If they have decided on a climbing wall you would have thought at the same time there would be an announcement on the operator.
Click to expand...
Apparently its going to be turned into a soft play center and climbing area... Like there isn't hundreds of soft play centers in Cardiff already.
 
Gavevs88

Gavevs88

Active Member
#12
#12
I don't see the massive issue? The 2nd pad hasn't had ice on it for over a year now.

Surely we are better off getting some use out of it and money being spent keeping the rink profitable.

What we would we prefer? Them shut the whole place down and build flats?

It's not making any money at the moment is it.....
 
Swarley

Swarley

Well-Known Member
#13
#13
Gavevs88 said:
What we would we prefer? Them shut the whole place down and build flats?
Click to expand...
Thats probably what they're hoping for at some point, I get the pad hasn't been used in ages but when was it actually given a chance to be viable after lock down? The condition and quality of the main pad is like skating on a cobblestone road, and I've heard that from more than a couple of players, it just smells like the council wanting the club to get out so they can waste more money on a project they'll abandon.
 
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Earnie

Well-Known Member
#14
#14
I have to ask how hard have we really tried to utilise the 2nd ice pad?
By ‘we’ I guess I mean Devils management. Originally I thought that with all sorts searching for ice time it would not have been a problem but obviously that is not the case.
 
lloyd_jeff

lloyd_jeff

Well-Known Member
#15
#15
It’s difficult to utilise a 2nd ice pad when there isn’t sufficient demand to cover its running costs. It’s a design flaw that was brought up in meetings at the time that rinks around the country where closing, yet instead of increasing one pads capacity it was decided two was the better option.
There is now a petition we can all sign demanding the Council keep the 2nd pad as an ice pad. The danger with this is not enough signatures will reinforce the closure of that pad & repurpose it. Too many signatures will make any future investors pull out because of the cost risks, it’s all well people signing, they needed to be using the pad when it was functioning.
 
Wannabe2

Wannabe2

Well-Known Member
#16
#16
How could increasing one pads capacity, increase the ice available facilities, also how do you know design flaws were brought up in meetings at the time. Can you explain please.
 
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Earnie

Well-Known Member
#17
#17
I can think of one design flaw at Pad 2. No seating capacity for viewers (such as mums and dads wanting to watch kids) . Tables to sit down and have a coffee and more.
 
Wannabe2

Wannabe2

Well-Known Member
#18
#18
Earnie said:
I can think of one design flaw at Pad 2. No seating capacity for viewers (such as mums and dads wanting to watch kids) . Tables to sit down and have a coffee and more.
Click to expand...
That was down to maximum space allowed for the building, and obviously cost as Greenbank had to put up the funds to get the building built.
 
Vartel

Vartel

Active Member
#19
#19
Whilst all the rec teams currently training at 11pm would love an 8pm slot on the second pad, is there much demand for additional sessions on top of what is already on the main pad to justify the costs of running the second pad? Or would it be the same number of sessions just at more reasonable times, so no extra money for the rink? The adult Learn to Play session has gone, but everything else seems to be accommodated, albeit stupidly late
 
Kevlar68

Kevlar68

Well-Known Member
#20
#20
Earnie said:
I can think of one design flaw at Pad 2. No seating capacity for viewers (such as mums and dads wanting to watch kids) . Tables to sit down and have a coffee and more.
Click to expand...
That's what the bar area was meant to be viewing area with the windows but once completed nowhere near good enough.
 
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