Ice Rink, Hockey Team Important to College

To the Editors:

I was disappointed to read recently that the College ice rink will not be opened this year — indeed, the prospects for opening it again are not good. The College already has budget problems and the ice rink needs serious repairs without which it cannot open. Even if the funds were available, it would appear to be nearly impossible to get the rink open this season given the late date.
I do hope that the College will give serious effort to refurbishing the ice rink and making it available to students and the community soon. The ice rink — like the gymnasium, swimming pool, field house and football field, are all facilities which do not pay for themselves — they cost money to run and serve both Oberlin students and the community. The real question is whether the benefit is worth the cost. This ice rink is one of only two in Lorain County — without it Oberlin College cannot have a viable hockey club. The College spends well over $500,000 each year to make football possible — coaches’ salaries, facilities, bus (and airline) fees, officials, staff, equipment, etc. It seems to me that it is not unreasonable to commit $50,000 annually to run and maintain the ice rink. The Saturday night hockey games are packed with hundreds of students — as many or more than attend a typical OC football game. (I urge anyone who has never attended such a game to witness the event — you will see a sports atmosphere like none other on the OC campus.)
It has been suggested that $250,000 must be spent in repairs just to open the rink. I don’t know the details, but whatever capital investment is necessary to repair/re-instate the facility, this investment should be amortized over a period of time, say 10 years. (The funds could be borrowed and quite literally paid back as part of an annual operating expense.) Like the Rec Center which also serves the community, fees charged to non-campus users can help but will never offset the costs of operatopn.
This is not a problem created by this administration, FRM or even the Lorain County Hockey Association. Before they managed the facility, the College was faced with the same problem, deferred maintenance on the facility and lost money year after year. This is the nature of all athletic facilities. The question is whether the College is committed to maintain and run athletic facilities which do not serve varsity athletics but do serve many OC students and the community.
My two young children have not yet learned how to skate. I hope to teach them in this facility soon. I urge the administration to draw together interested parties to devise a plan to save this facility.

–John Scofield
Professor of Physics