Group eyes Brewer site for ice arena

Shawn Small and Penobscot Valley Ice Sports Inc. intend to put former Unisoon.

That’s because Penobscot Valley Ice Sports Inc. intends to put a multipurpose ice arena in Brewer. Ploszek, who is in the consultmultipurpose ice arena in Brewer. Ploszek, who is in the consulting business for himself after stepping down as AD at Maine on April 15, is going to conduct a feasibility study for them.

Small, who is president of the corporation, said the group is currently awaiting word on a attaining tax-exempt status from the Internal Revenue Service. He also said they have raised $2,500 in order to hire Ploszek to begin his study.

They expect to contact him soon.

The facility, according to Small, will cost in the vicinity of $3-4 million and will be located on land donated by the city. The city owns a parcel of 18 acres between Brewer High School and I-395 and that is where the arena will be built if they are granted the tax exemption.

Ploszek said he met with a group of people from the corporation more than a month ago but hasn’t heard from them since.

If he is hired, he said his feasibility study would try to answer a stack of pertinent questions.

“First, is there enough interest in the region? Does the region perceive the need for this kind of facility? Is it appropriate to try to build a three-million-dollar facility in Brewer, or do we need to reassess and build something for less than that? How would we get it done? And What would you have to do to make it work within the region?” were some of the questions posed by Ploszek.

“It’s one thing to talk to a close-knit group of youth hockey parents and have them tell you we need the ice time. You need a broader base of support to put up an arena,” said Ploszek. “You need to examine the (potential) corporate and organizational support as well as individual donors.”

Ploszek said one of the key issues will be the ability of the corporation to avoid “parochial thinking.”

“They’ll need to see it as a facility that belongs to everybody, not just a particular locale,” said Ploszek.

Small said the results of Ploszek’s feasibility study, which is expected to take six to 12 weeks, “will dictate which way we go.”

The initial plans, according to Small, call for the ice surface to be Olympic-sized (200 feet by 100 feet).

“Our financial committee felt an Olympic-sized rink would be a very good source of revenue,” said Small. “Professional figure skaters are always looking for a rink near an airport in order to practice in secret. And this would also enable us to schedule two youth hockey teams in our lower age groups to practice at the same time. It’s hard to obtain quality ice time for the lower age groups now.”

The closing of the Sockalexis Memorial Ice Arena on Indian Island and the reduction in ice time availability at the University of Maine’s Alfond Arena, which has become a multipurpose facility for basketball as well as hockey, has created a hardship.

“The most immediate effect would be better ice times in terms of practice,” said Al Kochis, president of the Brewer Youth Hockey league. “We’ve had a lot of 5:30 a.m. and 8:30 p.m. practices at Sawyer Arena (in Bangor) and that has been a deterrent to some families.”

“This facility will not hurt Sawyer,” stated Small. “It will complement Sawyer.”

Small said the money for the facility will hopefully be raised from three groups: the city of Brewer, including federal and state grants and low-interest loans; local individuals, businesses and companies; and, thirdly, a namesake donor.

In addition to its value as an ice arena, Small pointed out that it could have several non-ice related uses such as a convention center and a facility in which to hold high school graduations.

“It would greatly aid our economy. It would bring more people to Brewer and they would shop and eat there,” said Kochis, who is an assistant vice president at Fleet Bank in Bangor. “It would also boost hockey participation in Brewer.”

Small and Kochis both said officials at city hall in Brewer have been extremely supportive.

“Brewer needs a flagship and this would be an ideal facility for that,” said Small.

Small said he and his mates in Penobscot Valley Ice Sports Inc. would ideally like to break ground this spring.

“That may be ambitious,” said Small. “We initially hoped to break ground this fall, but we had no idea it would take us six to eight months to try to get a tax-exemption status.”