Frozen fun in the Land of Enchantment's southern desert

Sometimes the thing that seems unconventional is actually the best course of action. Take, for example, creating an ice rink in the desert.

Faced with the opportunity to develop improved quality of life opportunities for residents of Doña Ana County, county manager Scott Andrews has been exploring exciting new venue and recreational opportunities in the county since his arrival just a year or so ago.

Andrews reached into his past management experience for the latest venture, a seasonal ice rink at the County Fairgrounds. After a one-week delay, the county opened the ice on Friday, Nov. 28 to a large crowd of enthusiastic skaters. The rink will remain open until Feb. 22, with plans to return each winter for at least the next four years.

Growing up in Las Cruces, Doña Ana County communications coordinator Ariana Parra, has heard often from residents talking about the region offering “nothing to do.” It’s something county staff takes seriously and works hard to remedy.

When he arrived on the scene about a year ago, Andrews began the process of exploring ice skating in the county. He reached out to a colleague with whom had previously worked to bring seasonal ice rinks to other communities. Jim Gomez, the owner of Ice Days, a George-based company, was brought in to consult on the project.

“I've known Scott for 12 years now,” Gomez said. “He was the economic development director in Sugar Hill, Georgia, when I was brought in to help bring an ice rink there. That was his first experience with what an ice rink can bring to a community. He saw the impact on that area.

“He called me last December and asked, ‘What do you think about an ice rink in the middle of New Mexico?’ I said, ‘You're crazy.’ That was until I looked up the weather and saw that this is actually probably the best place to have one because it's such a dry and moderate climate. Humidity's probably the biggest enemy to outdoor ice rinks as the amount of moisture in the air creates condensation.”

With that, the idea was born, and a proposal made its way through the county commissioners for approval. Parra says the project is all about filling that need to give Doña Ana County residents something else to do.

“A big priority of Scott’s is quality of life for people here in the county,” she said. “Just making sure that everyone here is able to enjoy something without having to drive 45 minutes or an hour. To have the opportunity to skate, they’ve gone to El Paso, but bringing the opportunity of ice skating to Doña Ana County. It's not something just for kids, it’s for everyone to enjoy.”

The contract went out for bid, and there were no qualified responses on the first or second round. Gomez was unable to bid initially because of other projects, but one of those fell through, and he came in on the third round with a bid that met all of the county’s requirements. The best part about his service is that he is not only setting up the rink but staying here to run it.

“A lot of rental companies won't offer what I do,” Gomez said. “I'm a hybrid where we've been owner-operated up until this one, but I'm still here managing and overseeing it and offering parties and all the other things, so it's a turnkey operation for the county. They get a professionally run ice rink but they didn't have go through all the training and equipment and everything which takes
years to learn for somebody that's not familiar with it.”

Gomez brought in his experienced staff to set up the rink, but the day-to-day is managed with local workers. It’s the way he prefers it. The contract is renewable every year for four years, and once it is up and running, most of the components will remain in the county and he will be able to reset each year with local workers.

So far, the results are good. The opening weekend saw 500 skaters come to break in the new ice sheet.

“This was a very exciting project for us,” Parra said. “We had a really good opening weekend and we're hoping that everyone is really enjoying it. Considering we couldn't announce we were going to open until basically the day before, that Friday night when we said we were going to be open, there was a line. We appreciate the community for being so understanding of the fact that we had to open a week late.”

The ice rink has been funded, with commission approval. The approved funding is for $290,000 for rental, setup, training, and day-to-day operations. The contract specifies that use of gross receipts tax revenue from the county manager’s general fund.

“We’re not in this to make money,” said project manager Eric Alvidrez. “Our primary goal is to always give back to all of our constituents. We are still within budget, so it's looking very good so far. Typically, businesses can take three to five years to even break even, so we’re on track. We definitely want to be transparent with those numbers.”

Two hours for $11

The $11 entry price tag certainly takes that into account and also recognizes the economic hardship in this region. That entry fee includes skate rental and parking is also free.

Outside of some large equipment Gomez brought with him, the other materials used in constructing the rink were purchased locally. Buying local is a huge priority for Ice Days.

Speaking of those skates, Ice Days has everything from toddler size 6 up through adult size 15.

“This truly is a place for everyone,” Parra said. “Jim also offers the ability to rent out the rink, so if you have a youth group, if you have a birthday party that you want to celebrate here and you want to be out on the ice without having it too crowded, you can do that too. There's just a lot of opportunity for everyone to come out and enjoy and have a good time.”

The rink is large, 56 feet X 84 feet, and can accommodate up to 150 skaters at any given time. That’s at least twice as much ice surface as what is available in El Paso.

“We've had really good feedback so far,” Parra said. “We’re excited to see by the end of the season how many people actually come and enjoy and use the rink. The one thing I like about these is it really does bring everybody in the community together. It doesn't matter race, religion, how old, how young, whatever. It's a fun community thing.”

Fun for all ages

Alvidrez encourages everyone to head out to the fairgrounds and take a spin around the ice.
“There was kids learning to skate for the first time, there were adults learning how to skate for the first time,” he said, “including myself. I learned how to skate for the first time. I would call it more ice walking than anything but the ambition is there, and I had a blast doing it.”

Gomez was surprised at the number of local residents who showed up opening night with their own skates, but that’s certainly not required.

Next up are the fire pits he’s bringing into enhance the experience.

“We'll have to do s'mores, and our concession stand will be open this weekend,” Gomez said. “You can come for 20 bucks and skate and have a hot dog, pretzel, do s'mores. It’s meant to be affordable family fun.”

The funds collected are all going back to cover the county’s investment. The plan is to grow the experience each year, bigger ice, more amenities. Ice Days and Doña Ana County have big plans for this winter recreational venue.

Visit https://skatedonaana.icedays.com/ to learn more about the schedule of hours, booking private party or birthday packages, and advertising opportunities.