The proposition of an ice-skating facility at the $18 million Brazos County Exposition Center received favorable response from panelists and area residents at a public forum Monday night.
Last November, voters approved funding to build the Expo center. One possibility on the ballot was building an ice skating rink inside the center. Dr. Charles Wiggins, a political science professor at Texas A&M, began organizing potential rink users in the community, forming the Brazos Ice Coalition. Wiggins also organized Monday night's forum.
Wiggins raised public support for building a sole-purpose ice facility while a professor at Iowa State University in the 1970s. He said believes that an interest in hockey should be taken advantage of in Bryan-College Station.
"There's a lot of potential users in town," Wiggins said. "We've just got to provide them with a facility and then develop the program."
The new ice facility would be a convenient location for potential users such as the A&M Department of Health and Kinesiology, the University's Student Recreation Center, an A&M hockey team and the public.
Brazos County Judge Al Jones and College Station Mayor Lynn McIlhaney attended the forum and said they were optimistic about the possibility of an ice-skating rink in the Brazos Valley.
"I'm impressed with what we learned tonight," Jones said. "I think it's something that would be very advantageous, not only from the standpoint of recreation but from the standpoint of health."
McIlhaney said Bryan-College Station's proximity to Houston and Austin would give an ice rink a good chance at success.
In addition to hockey, the facility would also house activities such as rodeos, cattle shows and concerts. An ice rink could be used for non-hockey activities like public skating, figure skating, broomball and curling.
The five-forum panelists discussed the possibility of bringing a professional hockey team to the Bryan-College Station area. The Central Hockey League, an equivalent to minor-league baseball, has several teams across Texas. Professional hockey could be a major source of revenue for an ice facility that could cost at least $1.5 million to build and maintain as part of the Expo center, panel members said.
The A&M hockey team would benefit from a nearby practice rink, said Paul Schaller, president of the club and a sophomore general studies major. Currently, the team must travel to Belton or Houston to find ice to practice on.
Jones and his commission will make the final decision on the proposition. Jones said he was pleased with the community's interest in the rink.
Glenn Hart, president of Laredo Energy in Houston and owner of a professional hockey team in Laredo, offered to invest in the venture.
Groundbreaking for the Brazos County Exposition Center is expected in the spring, on a plot of land in Bryan on Highway 47 north of Easterwood Airport.
