The city has enlisted some high-powered help — the Pittsburgh Penguins — in its bid to revive a plan to turn the Alfred E. Hunt Armory in Shadyside into an Olympic-size ice rink.
City officials have turned to the professional hockey team, which operates PPG Paints Arena in Uptown and the rink at the UPMC Lemieux Sports Complex in Cranberry, for advice on the feasibility of the East End project.
“At this point, the conversations have been advisory in nature based upon the team’s substantial knowledge of rink operations and the prospects of operating a community- and youth-based hockey program at the armory,” said Kevin Acklin, chief of staff to Mayor Bill Peduto.
The armory rink plan suffered a big setback in July when Toronto-based Cadan Inc. pulled out of the project after failing to line up the necessary financing.
At the time, Gary Maister of Cadan told the city that the decision was “due to lenders’ reluctance to finance ice rinks in light of recent rink closures in the region and the sports medicine groups we have been in discussions with deciding not to consummate leases.”
Despite that, the city hasn’t given up on the idea, which has received broad community support. Officials have turned to the Penguins for guidance.
“Obviously, there’s no better expert in Western Pennsylvania on building and operating ice rinks than the Pittsburgh Penguins. We’re counting on that expertise to help us,” said City Councilman Dan Gilman, who represents Shadyside.
David Morehouse, the Penguins’ CEO, said the team’s role is an unofficial one. The city, he said, asked the club for its opinion on the viability of the project. “We’re looking at it to see if there’s anything we can do to help.
“I mean, it fits right in with what we’re trying to accomplish. Right now, there’s not a hockey rink in the city of Pittsburgh. No kids in the city can go anywhere to learn to play hockey. They have to go to a suburb,” he said.
It would be good to have a community rink in the city, he noted, adding that the Emerson Street armory is a “perfect location for one.”
So far, the Penguins’ role has been purely advisory in nature. There has been no discussion about the team having a stake in the project or teaming with someone else to make it happen.
But that could change.
Asked whether the Penguins would consider partnering with someone to help build the facility, Mr. Morehouse replied, “Yeah, we’d consider it similar to what we did with the dek hockey rinks around the region.”
In “Project Power Play,” the Pittsburgh Penguins Foundation teamed with Highmark Blue Cross Blue Shield to build 12 dek hockey rinks in the city and the suburbs over four years. Highmark contributed $1.5 million toward the $2.3 million initiative and the foundation provided the rest.
Mr. Gilman would not rule out a potential partnership with the team to get the complex built. “I would be open to anyone interested in partnering with the city on it. That’s not a conversation that I’ve had but it’s certainly one I’m open to,” he said.
No timetable has been set for a decision on whether the rink project is viable.
While Mr. Gilman said he has talked to some developers about the ice rink, he also has heard from others with an interest in using the historic building, now owned by the city’s Urban Redevelopment Authority, for other purposes.
“It’s a great building in a very strong neighborhood. So it’s not surprising that there would be a lot of interest nationally in the building,” he said.
Before abandoning the plan, Cadan and Kratsa Properties had proposed converting the armory into a family-friendly ice-skating facility with three rinks, a cafe, and a suspended walking and running track. There also would have been 164 underground parking spots.
Mark Belko: mbelko@post-gazette.com or 412-263-1262.
First Published: October 6, 2016, 4:00 a.m.