Niagara Falls city crews change locks at ice rink over operator dispute

NIAGARA FALLS, N.Y. (WIVB) -- Big changes could be coming to a popular ice rink in Niagara Falls, but not without pushback.

At a city council meeting last Wednesday, lawmakers discussed proposals to change who operates the Hyde Park Ice Pavillion. Following outrage from parents at the meeting, the council voted unanimously not to accept a new proposal just yet.

Mike Carella is the current operator and hosts summer camps and hockey tournaments throughout the year.

On Monday, Carella was met with frustration. Dozens of youth hockey players arrived at the rink located on Robbins Drive for a Summer hockey program. They were met with police officers blocking the doors and city crews changing the locks.

"It was without any notice or anything," said Carella. "It sucks for the kids. If they have some type of gripe with us and they want to talk about something that's one thing, but to take it away from the kids is not cool."

Carella has been operating the facility for a while, but he said he has been doing so for four and a half years without a contract.

The city is now looking to shift gears to a new operator named Legacy Hospitality and Entertainment Group which is based out of Albany. Niagara Falls City Administrator Anthony Restaino said after reviewing proposals, the city believes they are the best company to manage the rink.

Restaino said he's disappointed the council chose not to take action last week and placed some blame on them for the chaos that ensued Monday morning.

"Why was it blown up?" Restaino said. "Let's be honest it's because you had a boatload of hockey players in the city council chambers which basically intimidated the council from taking the best offer for the city tax players. Let's remember that."

Restaino said the city had every right to lock the doors Monday morning because Niagara Falls identified what they believe is the best proposal to operate the facility.

"I don't see how it looks terrible on the mayor," said Restaino. "I think it looks terrible on the city council for not taking the action that they should've taken at the last meeting."

The bid from Legacy calls for a three-year-deal that will pay the city an annual operations fee of $102,000. It also will include a capital improvement commitment over the term of the contract.

Councilmember Donta Myles told WIVB News 4 he is glad the council didn't jump the gun and make a decision last Wednesday, especially after seeing how the city handled this situation on Monday.

"These kids are accustomed to this family-oriented management service that has been servicing our city for over 14 years," said Myles. "It didn't make sense to all of a sudden decide that we were going to get rid of this family management service. We need to find out how we can help our local businesses, our local agencies, and our local management as much as possible."

Parents, coaches, and even young players were shocked the city chose to temporarily lock the kids out without any warning.

"We have a good thing going on here already," said Christine Chase, a mother of a youth hockey player. "We want Mike Carella running this rink. He has been for 14 years."

They'd like to see operations remain at the local level.

"This family means more than just going on the ice twice a week to practice and playing games on the weekend," said John Cullen, the head goaltending coach of the Power City Bruins Youth Hockey Association. "I think it will have a detrimental impact across the board."

An agreement was reached on Monday to allow operations to continue at the Hyde Park Ice Pavillion until the end of August.

The next Niagara Falls City council meeting is scheduled for Sept. 3 but there could be a special meeting before that.