Who is a member?
Our members are the local governments of Massachusetts and their elected and appointed leadership.
Mass Innovations, From The Beacon, November 2010
Dozens of ice rinks in Massachusetts previously overseen by the Department of Conservation and Recreation are now managed by companies such as FMC Ice Sports, whose website lists more than 20 arena locations ranging from Plymouth to Greenfield.
The DCR rink that serves Melrose and Winchester is now also under new management. But rather than working with an established company to manage the facility, the two communities have formed a nonprofit entity of their own.
Friends of the Flynn Rink Inc. was created through an act of the Legislature last spring. According to John McLaughlin, one of the nonprofit’s seven board members, the organization will be in a better position than the DCR was to operate skating programs.
“We could have just thrown the keys to a for-profit company, as was done in many of the rinks, and hope for the best,” McLaughlin said. “But for us it was worth the additional effort to go about it this way.”
McLaughlin praised the for-profit companies for the money they invest in the rinks they manage, something the DCR is not in a position to do. But he said that nonprofit local management will allow excess revenue to be used to expand local ice-related programs or to hold down fee increases.
A for-profit company, McLaughlin said, typically rents an ice rink from the DCR for $175 an hour. But the revenue that can be generated in an hour is significantly higher – $800, for example, if 40 children take part in a skating lesson that costs $20.
“The economic models have proven that you can’t sustain a rink without capturing that revenue yourself,” McLaughlin said. “We will be running learn-to-play-hockey and learn-to-skate programs directly, and capturing that revenue and bringing it back to the community through the nonprofit.”
Prior to opening the rink, Friends of the Flynn Rink made a number of improvements, including renovating the building’s concessions and lobby and adding conveniences such as Wi-Fi Internet access. The nonprofit managed to open the rink by Labor Day weekend, five weeks ahead of when it opened the previous year, when it was still under DCR management, according to Melrose Mayor Robert Dolan.
Dolan applauded DCR Director Richard K. Sullivan for his willingness to work with cities and towns in managing ice rinks and swimming pools – “not just dumping them on us, but trying to form a partnership.”
For more information, contact John McLaughlin at (617) 694-4297.