Table Of ContentCity of Coquitlam Parks, Recreation and Culture Services
Arena Services and Facilities Study 2015
Final Report, December 2015
File #: 01-0620-20/ASAFS/1 Doc #: 2124429.v1
Arena Services and Facility Study 2015
Executive Summary 4
1.0 Situation Overview 7
2.0 Strategies and Recommendations Summary 9
2.1 Options and recommendations
2.2 Evaluation of options for curling
2.3 Evaluation of options for Planet Ice
3.0 Demand Variables 16
3.1 Projected Population
3.2 Participation Trends
3.3 Standards-of-Play allocations
3.4 Regional demand and supply variables
3.5 User groups by the numbers
4.0 Asset Inventory 32
4.1 Condition of existing facilities
4.2 Planet Ice agreement (supply limitations)
4.3 Facility cost recoveries
4.4 Asset strategic locations (long-term)
5.0 Scheduling and Utilization 37
5.1 Current ice arena grids
5.2 Current curling grid
5.3 Current dry-floor grids
5.4 Perceived issues, inefficiencies and gaps
6.0 Immediate and Short-Term Strategy Options (1-5 years) 41
6.1 Allocation changes
6.2 Planet Ice allocations
6.3 Curling options (with Pro Forma and concept)
6.4 Reconfiguring the third ice sheet at Poirier
7.0 Medium-term Strategy Options (5-10 years) 48
7.1 Allocation changes
7.2 Planning for change
8.0 Long-term Strategy Options (Beyond 10 years) 49
8.1 Long-term demand
8.2 Long-term ice and dry-floor allocation
File #: 01-0620-20/ASAFS/1 Doc #: 2124429.v1
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The Executive Summary
Ice sports are among the most popular recreation pastimes in Coquitlam with over 2,500 registrants, or
roughly 2% of the total population participating (plus an additional 1,200 dry-floor sport users or an
additional 1%). The issue with arenas everywhere is always cost. Arenas typically cost over $10 million per
sheet to build and annual subsidization (above revenues from users) is on average in the range of
$500,000 / year per sheet, always a concern to the remainder of the tax-paying population. Therefore,
decisions must be made judiciously and prudently to ensure the correct allocation of scarce financial
resources.
The City of Coquitlam offers recreational arena ice at two facilities, the Poirier Sport and Leisure Complex
(2-ice sheets, plus one sheet dedicated to 6 lanes of curling) and by contract through Planet Ice (4-ice
sheets). The City also operates a year-round dry-floor arena at the Forum. The Poirier facility was
renovated and expanded in 2010. Planet Ice was constructed in 1995 and there is 10 years left in the
current agreement.
Analysis of schedules plus consultation with the ice and dry-floor sport users groups has identified the
immediate need for a relatively modest amount of additional ice time. At this point in time that current
unmet demand does not justify an additional full ice sheet, but between 23-25 more prime-time hours
per week, or 50% of an additional ice sheet, could be effectively utilized with improved scheduling. Many
minor sport groups are relegated to marginally acceptable timeslots (early mornings or late evenings), or
are compensating for pent-up demand and lack of available time by increasing team sizes or are capping
registrations. As a consequence some sports are losing participants. (Note: prime-time defined as 5-9 PM
weekdays and 9-9 weekends).
Only one ice asset identified is significantly under-utilized. The curling rinks are utilized 52% of available
time between 9am and 9pm daily, though that rate is 80% Monday-Thursday. Less than 25% of weekends
are booked for bonspiels or rentals. Curling centre cost recovery (rental revenue over operating cost) is
low, in the order of 20% compared to the average 60% for a typical ice arena). Participation in curling is
declining due to attrition and low recruitment. Nationally curling is in a systemic decline in the order of
1.5-2.0% per year in urban areas despite population increase (source: Canadian Curling Association). The
curling club has in the recent past expressed challenges with ice condition, the layout of the redeveloped
Poirier Complex and the lounge.
There are four solutions in the short-medium term that would create more ice time that could be re-
distributed to other ice users:
• One, is the creation of 2-month curling mini-seasons in fall and spring. This is a practical solution to
addressing the under-utilization of curling ice and there are precedents across North America for this
solution. Another solution along the same lines would be to partner with another municipality to offer
offsetting curling seasons for the two municipalities curling clubs – for example, Coquitlam would offer
curling September to December and the other municipality would offer curling January to April (thus
freeing up ice times in both municipalities).
• Two, discontinue the curling program entirely and members would shift to clubs in other jurisdictions
(i.e. Port Moody and/or New Westminster).
• Three, is the provision of a relocated 6-sheet curling facility with a critical mass of curling members that
would make it a viable and sustainable society-operated facility.
• A fourth option, status quo, is not a viable or sustainable solution. One asset should not continue to be
so under-utilized while the majority of ice user groups struggle to accommodate needs.
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The introduction of the equivalent of an additional 30-50% or even a full-sheet time inventory would
address all skating and hockey ice needs for the next 5-10 years. Relocating curling would be a more cost
effective solution than building a new arena ice as a 6-sheet curling facility would cost in the range of 50-
60% (project cost; in current dollars; excluding site costs). Reducing curling to a seasonal function would
only add the cost of adding dasherboards and glass to the third rink in the order of $200,000. Additional
team rooms (4) as an addition to the outside of the building or renovation of existing interior space could
cost as much as $1 million. Team rooms may not be necessary if non-hockey ice sports were concentrated
in the rink, but boards and team rooms allow for valuable late evening off-prime rentals for adult hockey.
The other part of the equation is the longer-term. The 30-year agreement with the service providers
operating Planet Ice will end in 2025. While the original contract remains intact, the parties and
participants have all changed and, much of the assumptions and history that shaped and informed the
agreement are not known.
That said, the current agreement represents fair value of consideration of about $750,000 (2015) annually
(about the cost of the City operating 1.25 to 2.0 ice sheets) in return for the equivalent of about 2.1 ice-
sheets worth of prime time, although the arrangement is not without challenges. The agreement states
the City is to receive 5,867.5 hours annually at a current cost that averages out to about $130 / hour. Of
this total, only about 3,060 hours or 52% is actual usable prime-time ice. About 900 hours per year is time
lost to re-surfacing, which is a standard operating cost and would be lost if the City was operating its own
ice sheet. About 1,050 hours per year is off-prime day-time and late evening time. However, of greatest
significance is that almost 900 hours per year (29 hours per week or the equivalent of 2/3’s of an ice sheet
prime-time) cannot be programmed and goes unused as most of these hours are during day-time when
few if any ice users groups can actually use it.
The City has an agreement with the service provider for a fixed amount of annual ice time for a set
amount of annual compensation (with an escalation clause built into it likely to reflect rising operating
costs). Planet Ice primarily caters to an adult hockey market, which could be considered to cost the City in
lost off-prime revenues, typically late-evening adult use that for most arenas elsewhere provide up to 30-
50% of total revenues per sheet. At Planet Ice adult recreation leagues pay a premium to rent ice during
prime-time. The Poirier Complex ice sheets currently generate only an average of 5.0 hours per week each
of off-prime adult hockey rentals.
Other issues with the facility include the perception held by user groups that Planet Ice is a more modest
facility with a lower aesthetic appeal. Users also note that the ice conditions in Planet Ice are inconsistent,
the team rooms are too small and too few, and spectator considerations are spartan. Deferred
maintenance issues are apparent, suggesting that the facility will be in worse condition in 2025, when the
City has the option to assume control of the asset. While the agreement ends in 2025, the City of
Coquitlam should be making a decision and initiating action by the year 2020 or 2021.
Three options are available to address future, long-term, ice arena needs:
• The first solution is that the City of Coquitlam assumes control of Planet Ice in 2025 and the asset is
dissolved and the site sold. The City would build a new twin ice arena facility, expandable to 3-sheets,
either in the City Centre or in the growing northeast area. A new twin arena facility would cost about
$22-24 million project, in current dollars. Net additional operating cost would be about $750,000.
• The second solution is that the City assumes control and operation of the Planet Ice facility at the end of
the agreement and upgrades the facility with the intention of operating the facility for another15-20
years. Upgrades and renovations would likely cost in the order of $20-30 million. Only two or possibly
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three of the ice sheets would be needed, so one of the pads could become a replacement for the Forum
or addition to the dry-floor supply. Some surplus time may be saleable to neighbouring communities to
maximize efficiency. Operating cost would add $2.2 million per year to the City budget, before revenues
and adult hockey off-prime time rentals.
• Option three is that the City could negotiate a new agreement with Planet Ice with more and better ice
times and with the expectation that the facility be improved. Annual cost would be expected to rise
significantly, especially for the service provider to recover the additional capital investment in the
renovations, however, this could be explored and negotiated to ensure this option is only available if it
has a viable financial result to the City.
Decision Tree Diagram
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1.0 Situation Overview
Currently, the City of Coquitlam offers arena ice at two facilities, the Poirier Sport and Leisure Complex, or
PSLC ( 2 ice sheets, plus 1 rink dedicated to curling), and by contract through Planet Ice (equivalent to 2.1
prime time ice sheets). The City also offers a year-round dry-floor arena at the Forum. The Poirier facility
(c. 1963) was renovated and expanded in 2010. Planet Ice was constructed in 1995 and there is 10 years
left in the current agreement.
The Poirier facility is in excellent condition with at least 30 more years of service life. The Planet Ice
facility, located on City-owned land is in moderate condition with an estimated 10-15 years of remaining
service life. At the end of the Planet Ice Agreement in 2015, the facility reverts to the City. The Forum is a
rigid-frame fabric or ‘sprung’ structure across the street from the Poirier Sports and Leisure Complex, with
a projected service life of 15-20-years.
Ice arena facilities in neighbouring Tri-Cities communities (diagram below) include a twin arena plus 6-
sheet curling rink at the Port Moody Recreation Complex and the Port Coquitlam Recreation Complex and
Wilson Centre has two ice sheets. Port Coquitlam will be renovating and/or replacing the existing 40 and
45 year old arenas, and may be adding a third sheet in the next 2-3 years.
Currently Coquitlam’s total prime-time ice demand requires 4.6 sheets: 3.2 sheets for CMHA, 0.4 for
TCFHA, 0.4 for CSC and about 0.6 for all other users. Prime-time is defined as 5-9 PM weekdays and 9 AM-
9 PM weekends and is the preferred window for minor sport activity.
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Coquitlam is experiencing some demand and scheduling challenges impacting ice allocation in the short-
term. In the long-term, the Planet Ice agreement will be concluding and the community continues to
grow, with much of the single-family and multi-family residential growth to occur in the Northeast area.
The most pressing and immediate challenges facing the City and it’s ice users are:
• Minor hockey total allocation of time falls within national standards for weekly hours per player,
however many ice times are not ideal (too early and late) and too many hours fall outside Prime-Time
(5-9 PM weekdays, 9-9 weekends)
• Coquitlam Minor Hockey Association (CMHA) and Tri-Cities Female Hockey Association (TCFHL) have no
capacity for growth and make the compelling case that team rosters are too large out of necessity to
accommodate all participants coupled with ice time limitations
• The Planet Ice facility is in moderate condition, with numerous functional (such as team room sizes and
quantity) and environmental issues (i.e. temperature, ice consistency, lighting)
• Scheduling ice time at the Planet Ice facility is constrained by limitations imposed by the agreement and
some ice times are not used
• Dry-floor sports such as ball-hockey and box lacrosse are the fastest growing sports but are now capped
at PSLC and the Forum. There is no dry-floor time made available at Planet Ice
• Low utilization of the curling facility and declining membership is resulting in poor cost recovery for the
City where optimization of this service is critical due to high demand for prime time ice, as highlighted
above
In the longer term, issues and concerns are:
• The Planet Ice facility at the southern-extreme end of the city is poorly located to serve the needs of
many user groups, a condition that will be exacerbated in the future as population growth shifts to the
City Centre and northeast quadrant of the city
• The Planet Ice facility will revert to the City in 2025 at which time significant renovation would be
necessary or the facility will need to be decommissioned
• National trends suggest ice hockey is declining at about 1.5% per year, even as the population grows by
an equal amount. The Coquitlam situation in the long-term may be more tempered given the projected
planned growth in family housing but actions will have to be carefully considered to avoid over-supply
of ice arenas
The next section of this report outlines recommendations for facility actions and strategies for the
immediate, short (2-5 years), medium (5-10 years) and long-term (10-15 years) ice needs of Coquitlam
and addresses the larger systemic issues concerning supply and demand.
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2.0 Strategies and Recommendations Summary
Immediate-Term
There are some actions that can be immediately undertaken to relieve current scheduling stresses by
creating more timeslots and improved timeslots. These include:
• The unused short portion of the curling ice (approximately 45x85 square feet of ice – incorporated in
the design to ensure a full sheet of ice for possible future non-curling ice needs) being potentially
allocated for use by the City and/or Coquitlam Skating Club for skating lessons, thereby freeing up
timeslots on the other full-sized Poirier ice sheets to shift minor hockey away from early-morning
timeslots and the school hockey academy. Only 52% of usable time is actually utilized in the curling
rinks creating ample time opportunity for non-conflicting use of the portion of ice not used by curlers
• Trying to renegotiate ice times with Planet Ice under the terms of the current Agreement (this is not
likely to be successful given there would be no business incentives for Planet Ice to do so)
• Purchasing more prime time hours at the standard rate from Planet Ice
Short-Term – 2 to 5 Years
Port Coquitlam has initiated a process to renovate their Recreation Complex, which could include building
a third ice sheet at the Complex, but recognizes that demand in that community may not have the
capacity to fully utilize the extra ice for the first few years. Consequently, Coquitlam ice users may be able
to purchase surplus ice time at that facility.
The curling users have expressed dissatisfaction and a number of challenges stemming from their
relocation from the previous stand-alone curling centre to the new curling facilities in the Poirier Sport
and Leisure Complex in 2010. This is also seen as a contributing factor to declining participation rates. The
major issues include:
• The social aspect of the sport was lost with the configuration of the new facility (non-dedicated lounge
remote on 2nd floor)
• Inconsistent ice quality as maintenance now falls to staff and not to non-specialized/dedicated curling
ice staff
There are several options that focus on creating more ice time from the curling ice - that could be re-
distributed to other ice users:
Option 1 - Compressed Curling Schedule
A strategy to reduce some of the over-supply of curling ice time is a reduction of curling time by creating
compressed 2-month curling seasons in fall and spring. The seasonal solution in some other jurisdictions is
a fall curling season of September and October and if viable, a second spring curling season of March and
April. November-February would be skating and hockey programming of the facility. There are precedents
across North America for this approach. The City could provide one year notice to the curling club with
respect to this action, which could be implemented in 2017.
Another solution, along the same lines, would involve the City partnering with another municipality to
offer off-setting curling ice for the two municipalities curling clubs. For example, Coquitlam could provide
curling ice September to December with the other municipality providing curling ice from January to April.
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Option 2 – Transition Curling out of Poirier Sport and Leisure Complex
Transitioning curling out of the Poirier Sport and Leisure Complex will create the equivalent of an entirely
new ice sheet, as the ice surface size is equal to an NHL-size rink (200’ x 85’) instead of the smaller curling
ice (150’ x 85’). Recommendation is that hockey dasherboards and glass be added to the rink to maximize
utilization, scheduling flexibility and revenues, especially for capturing future late evening adult usage.
The curling locker rooms may need to be reconfigured and renovated into team rooms for hockey use,
though a focus on this ice sheet on public skate, skating lessons and figure skating may limit the need for
team rooms.
The solution of relocating curling would immediately add 46 hours per week of usable prime time ice plus
off-prime time, a net total inventory increase (all rinks) of almost 20%. The change from curling to hockey
and skating on the third sheet at Poirier would improve cost recovery from the current 20% to about 60%
of operating costs. There would however, be capital costs associated with a permanent conversion of the
third rink to skating ice, such as the cost of adding dasherboards and glass (approximately $200,000).
Additional team rooms (4) as an addition to the outside of the building or renovation of existing interior
space could cost as much as $1 million. Team rooms may not be necessary however, if non-hockey ice
sports were concentrated in the rink, but boards and team rooms allow for valuable late evening off-
prime rentals for adult hockey.
Option 3 - Stand Alone Curling Partnership Option
A new curling facility would free up the existing ice sheet for all other users. This investment in a sport
that is in decline and shows significant operational inefficiencies appears to be counterintuitive, however,
from a capital outlay perspective, a new curling facility could cost less than half the amount of building
another new single-sheet hockey arena. The City would need to provide the land and capital for the new
building, plus provide major lifecycle maintenance to protect their investment. Under this model, the
operating costs would be borne by the curling club, as this would be the major concern if the City had to
operate a stand-alone facility. Partnership arrangements would need to be in place, including capital
contributions from partners, in
order to afford other providers of curling ice in the region the opportunity to increase their skating ice
inventory in exchange for taking on some of the capital costs associated with constructing the facility. As
an example, if the Coquitlam Curling Club (about 520 registered members) merges with the 315-member
Port Moody Curling Club and the City of Port Moody contributes capital for the facility, the merger with
Port Moody would also create surplus ice for that municipality (albeit mini-ice configuration suitable for
lessons, figure skating, hockey practices and games for the youngest age groups). The new 800-plus
member club utilization approaching 90%, would control their own food and beverage, and could possibly
augment their revenues with dry-floor rentals to other sports in the summer months.
The Curling Club would operate and collect revenues, program and schedule, and be responsible for all
annual operating obligations, meaning pricing and utilization targets would have to reflect cost recovery
without additional subsidy from the City. This type of curling club operating model is the most common
across the country (examples include Royal City Curling Club, Victoria Curling Club and Marpole Curling
Club). Given the 52% utilization of the current facility, the recommendation is for a 6-sheet curling facility
at a cost of about $6.0 to 7.0 million (construction),not including land.
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Description:The City also operates a year-round dry-floor arena at the Forum. The Poirier facility was renovated and expanded in 2010. Planet Ice was constructed
