City OKs new ice arena bleachers, sidewalks

Repair, safety program to include concrete work at Mentor Lagoons Marina

The city of Mentor continues to make major investments in its ice arena and infrastructure — namely sidewalks this time.

The latest arena project will replace the bleachers at a cost of $230,500.

Farnham Equipment Company based in Columbus was the low bidder of two. The high bid was about $260,000.

The work will involve installation of non-elevated, angle-frame bleachers on the first level and the replacement of “telescopic” and fixed seating on the upper level.

The project will provide seating capacity for up to nearly 700 people

City Council approved the bid award at the Feb. 18 meeting.

“As Council is aware, we have been reinvesting in our ice arena quite a bit in the last (several) years ... and this is another one of those reinvestment projects at the west arena,” City Manager Ken Filipiak said.

Other projects have included energy-efficient upgrades such as

new lighting and boiler systems, an ice melt recovery system that recycles shavings from the Zamboni, and more than $200,000 for low-energy consumption ceilings and side wall baffles to improve acoustics and insulation in the east and west ice rinks.

The arena draws an estimated 350,000 to 400,000 people to the community each year for figure skating and hockey competitions, plus casual skaters, and is seen as an economic development tool.

“We had identified the need for new bleachers several years ago but felt that we needed to first establish a track record of successful operations relative to revenues and facility usage,” Arena Manager Bill Furman said.

The arena operates on a $1 million budget, 75 percent of which is covered by rink revenues.

The existing bleachers are nearly 40 years old and have shown many signs of wear, Furman said. In addition, the lack of handrails and high steps restricted

some older patrons and others with mobility issues to the lower seats.

“Each year sees more and more people in attendance,” he said. “Therefore, we felt that it was time to commit to this project.”

In other action, council approved awarding its annual Sidewalk Repair/Pedestrian Safety Program to T.C. Construction Co., Inc. of Willoughby Hills with a low bid of about $388,288.

The engineer’s estimate was $400,000, including about $30,000 worth of

concrete repairs at the Mentor Lagoons Marina.

“We included the concrete work at the marina in the sidewalk bid to try to benefit from expected favorable bid prices due to the larger quantity of concrete work,” Mentor Engineer Dave Swiger said.

Sidewalks targeted for improvements mainly fall in the section of the city northeast of routes 20 and 615.

It is anticipated that work will begin by May with project completion Aug. 14.

“We included the concrete work at the marina in the sidewalk bid to try to benefit from expected favorable bid prices due to the larger quantity of concrete work.” — Mentor Engineer Dave Swiger