Officials mull over selling arena parcel
Published on February 6th, 2008
STONEHAM, MA - Town officials may link a bold Arena redevelopment proposal into a long-term lease of the rink that would sell a portion of property for business use and erect a sports complex at the rear of the site.
According to Selectman Paul Rotondi, who sits on an ad hoc committee exploring an expansion of the Arena, Town Administrator David Ragucci has pitched a preliminary proposal that would sell the front portion of the rink property for private development.
The land sale, along an attractive portion of Montvale Avenue nearby Route 93, would then foot the bill for the erection of a new skating facility at the Stoneham Oaks golf course.
"The preliminary plan is taking where the existing rink is now and then building a new rink with two sheets of ice and a sports complex in back," Rotondi explained. "I think in the long-term, it's going to have real positive effects."
"We'll get this whole new development built without costing the town anything. Plus you'll get another $400,000 a year from real-estate taxes. So we're looking at approximately $500,000 in new revenue," the Selectman predicted.
Before any concrete proposal is put forward, town officials anticipate meeting regularly with Arena user groups and local citizens, in order to build popular support for the project.
The Town Administrator has already unveiled the plans to several Arena user groups, including Stoneham Youth Hockey, in order to gauge their initial response to the proposal.
"There will be no downtime. There will always be a rink for [the user groups]. That's the important thing," said Selectman John DePinto, who explained that the old rink wouldn't be torn down, until the replacement was erected.
Because the Arena and Stoneham Oaks golf course have been designated as recreational spaces, which received state and federal funding, Stoneham will need to petition both the state legislature and U.S. authorities to sell the front of the property for private commercial uses.
"We plan to talk to everybody involved, because the complicated part of this plan is that we have to go to the state and federal government to allow us to transfer the land where the rink is now and replace that with recreation land along Brookbridge Road," said Rotondi.
According to Ragucci and Rotondi, the town also plans to link the redevelopment project with any long-term lease deal for the Arena, which is being explored separately by a separate ad hoc study group.
The Town Administrator, who is crafting the language for a lease deal, hopes to find a suitor to manage the skating facility for a 25 to 50 year term.
By linking the lease of the current facility with a management deal for a new skating and sporting complex, town officials hope to attract management firms, who would normally shy away from the maintenance responsibilities being considered.
In particular, Ragucci has proposed that any leasee would be solely responsible for the upkeep of the Arena, as well as for any repairs, equipment replacements, or other capital needs.
Local officials have also insisted that any pact with a private management firm would include provisions that protect Stoneham skating and hockey groups from significant price surges for ice-time.
"We have to link the RFP to this future [redevelopment process]," said Rotondi. "What it may do is almost be a carrot for people to come out and bid."
"We think it will be an incentive to have some of these companies say, ‘We'll manage this one for three to five years and do a good job. But when you put up the new one, we have the right of first refusal,'" the Selectman concluded.
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