SCARBOROUGH – A seven-member committee is recommending that a proposed new indoor ice arena be built on the town-owned land opposite the Scarborough Public Library, with access off Quentin Drive.

The building site, which is now home to several outdoor basketball courts, is far preferred to the original location proposed by the group, Friends of Scarborough Hockey, which is driving the idea of building a 37,000-square-foot, 630-seat ice rink in town.

The Town Council is expected to take action on the committee recommendation when it meets on Wednesday, Dec. 3, after the Current’s deadline.

The friends group originally thought the best spot for the $5.5 million arena would be near the water tower, adjacent to the high school, with access off Route 114, but that location drew fire by those who thought it would only add to the traffic issues at Oak Hill.

At its meeting on Oct. 15 the Town Council approved a memorandum of understanding with the Friends of Scarborough Hockey, which essentially said the town would allow the proposed ice rink to be built somewhere on the school campus, providing the group met certain criteria in advance.

The Friends of Scarborough Hockey first announced its plans to build a new indoor ice arena this summer and said that all of the construction and operational costs would be raised privately, but the group also thought being located on the school campus would be critical for the success of the rink. So, the group sought the cooperation of the Town Council in placing the facility on town-owned land.

This week, Chuck Bradish, a member of the Friends and president of the Scarborough Ice Hockey Booster Association, said a lot of thought and discussion went into the recommendation to locate the ice rink near the library and the new Wentworth School.

“This location is preferred due to its proximity to utilities and also because it would enable the ice arena to use the new parking lot built for Wentworth,” Bradish said. “This location (also) moves the ice arena further away from the Oak Hill intersection, where some people expressed concerns about the impact on traffic.”

He said that at Wednesday’s Town Council meeting the group plans to present new drawings locating the ice arena on the property across from the library.

Bradish said the new plans “take into consideration visitor parking and a bus drop-off area to enable school hockey teams to safely drop off students at the ice rink for practices and games. The main entrance to the ice arena has also been positioned so that it faces the Wentworth School parking lot.”

In all, he added, “The committee spent a great deal of time reviewing the positive and negative aspects of each location relative to safety, traffic patterns, parking, quality of the land and cost (of construction). After all aspects were discussed, the committee conducted a ranking of the sites, and this location was preferred.”

The committee consisted of Bradish, Lee Allen, another member of the Friends of Scarborough Hockey; Community Services Director Bruce Gullifer; Town Council Chairwoman Jessica Holbrook; and Stephen Quirk, Todd Jepson and Michael LeGage.

Before making its final recommendation on where the ice rink should be located, Bradish said, Nancy Crowell, the library director, and Chris Caizzo, a member of the school board, were also consulted, along with local traffic engineer Bill Bray.

In a memo provided to the council prior to the Dec. 3 meeting, the committee said a total of four sites were reviewed, including the initial location near the water tower. The other building sites considered were near the outdoor ice rink at the high school sports complex or the tennis courts off Wentworth Drive.

In the memo provided to the council, the committee said the new indoor ice arena would actually be placed between the outdoor basketball courts on Quentin Drive and the new Wentworth School, which would also leave room for a new community or senior center between the ice rink and Route 114 in the future.

Going into Wednesday’s council meeting, Bradish said, “The Friends of Scarborough Hockey is excited about the progress we have made so far to bring an ice arena to Scarborough and the surrounding communities. We will formally launch our fundraising campaign soon, and we look forward to continued support from the community.”

This past summer Town Manager Tom Hall told the Current that based on the work the Friends of Scarborough Hockey has done, “there is strong enough regional interest in such a facility based on the scarcity of the resource.”

And, in an introductory letter sent to the Board of Education, the group said, “The lack of available ice to support youth ice-based sports in Scarborough and surrounding communities is having a negative impact on our students, specifically the middle and high school hockey programs.”

The hope is that the communities of Cape Elizabeth and South Portland, including the school-based hockey teams, would play a key part in supporting the proposed ice arena in Scarborough, according to prior public statements made by the Friends of Scarborough Hockey.

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A CLOSER LOOK

An online fundraising campaign is now under way to assist the Allen family of Scarborough, who lost their home in a fire on Thanksgiving. Go to www.gofundme.com/AllenFamilyHelp to make a donation or for more information.