
Liam Beran
Interior of the Hartmeyer Ice Arena.
The Hartmeyer Ice Arena is in need of $3 million in repairs.
Just before the Madison city council convened Tuesday night to discuss the future of two formerly city-owned ice arenas, a stream of high schoolers in white and green uniforms began pouring into the council chambers.
The members of the Madison Memorial hockey team were there to show their support for a plan to forgive the debt on the arenas, player and senior Owen Anderson said in an interview before the meeting. He and his teammate Parker Harms have been playing at the Madison Ice Arena for around 14 years and said they wanted to support the facilities for themselves and future generations.
They were among the sea of supporters who took up most of the nearly two-hour public comment session. Athletes young and old described what skating means to them; some parents spoke with their young children, dressed in hockey gear, beside them. Support from registrants was overwhelming; 251 registrants supported the proposal with 19 opposed, according to city communications manager Dylan Brogan.
Ultimately, the supporters won out. The city council voted 16-1 just after midnight to fund $1.6 million in loan forgiveness for the two formerly city-owned ice arenas, a proposal co-authored by Mayor Satya Rhodes-Conway and Ald. John Guequierre.
“Staff have looked at this diligently and determined it makes [sense] to maintain, if not increase, distance between the city and the owners of these two ice arenas,” said Ald. Tag Evers, who voted for the deal. “I agree.”
Under the plan approved by the council, $1.28 million in debt for both facilities and full ownership of the north-side Hartmeyer Ice Arena is transferred to the East Madison Ice Collective, a newly-formed nonprofit; also, Madison Ice Inc., which used to own both arenas, will take on $328,753 in debt and full ownership of the west-side Madison Ice Arena. If the East Madison Ice Collective raises $3 million needed for repairs to Hartmeyer — a new roof, refrigeration system and HVAC system are among the needed repairs — the total $1.6 million debt across both nonprofits will be forgiven.
If the money is not raised in time, the city can “take back the properties and re-evaluate its options,” according to a statement released shortly after the council vote.
For many young people, advocating for the deal was a real time civics lesson.
Fourth-grader Elliott Cook of Monona told the council Hartmeyer Ice Arena offers him a place to “learn to skate, make friends, and feel connected to the Madison community.”
“If you vote no on this proposal, you wouldn’t just be turning down me and the [Madison] Patriots team,” said Cook, speaking alongside four other friends in Madison Patriots hockey jerseys, “but all kids and parents from East Madison, Cottage Grove and Monona communities who just want a rink to skate in.”
After the students finished their testimony, Rhodes-Conway quipped that the “Monona City Council better watch out, because those kids are coming for their jobs.”
Only three registrants spoke against the proposal: Alex Saloutos, who has started a blog writing about city issues; Madison resident John Fons; and former Madison Mayor Paul Soglin. Soglin, who was mayor when the city council extended Madison Ice Inc.’s loan repayments in 2017, said the outpouring of support means the city must “do this right.”
Soglin proposed the city potentially seek a new location for Hartmeyer and gain financial and operating support for the ice arenas through a public-private partnership, similar to how Olbrich Gardens is operated jointly by the city parks division and nonprofit Olbrich Botanical Society.
Alds. Amani Latimer Burris, Barbara Harrington-McKinney and Isadore Knox Jr. said they would like more time to consider other alternatives.
“I'm not convinced, and I don't want to set the ice arena people up for failure,” said Latimer Burris, whose district contains the Hartmeyer arena and who attended the council meeting virtually. Burris floated the idea of forwarding the matter to the city economic development division for further study but she did not introduce a formal motion before a vote was called.
Latimer Burris was absent from the Zoom room at the time of vote. Harrington-McKinney abstained and Knox Jr. voted no.
Like community pools, community ice arenas are not a “money making proposition,” Laura Franzen-Elmer, a member of the board of Madison Ice Inc., said in response to a question from Ald. Marsha Rummel about why the debt should be forgiven.
Rinks in many cities provide a valuable community service, Franzen-Elmer said, but rely on subsidies from local governments.
“We offer ice for community types of programs. Our high schools utilize these facilities for high school hockey,” Franzen-Elmer said. “It's important to the community to keep them going.”

Liam Beran
Sporting their jerseys, members of the Madison Memorial hockey team attended the Jan. 14 city council meeting in support of a debt forgiveness program for Madison's ice arenas.
Madison’s ice arenas have had a troubled financial history. In 2004, the city sold the arenas to Madison Ice Inc. through a land contract for around $1.1 million; repayment for that sum was extended in 2011 and 2017. The city also approved an additional $1 million loan to the group in 2017 to improve conditions at Hartmeyer.
Madison Ice Inc. has not made a payment on its debt since 2020, citing pandemic-era financial hardships. But if the city wanted to reclaim the properties, according to a presentation from economic division director Matthew Mikolajewski, it would need to cover the facilities’ operational and repair costs to continue using them as ice rinks, or find another use for the land.
City parks superintendent Eric Knepp, who oversees city-run golf courses, told the council he would have “serious concerns” about the financial burden for the city to operate the facilities and repair Hartmeyer. He also said it was unclear to him how the city could increase the arenas’ profitability.
“We’ve been out of the ice business for a while, and we weren’t looking to get back in,” said Knepp.
Ald. Mike Verveer, a member of the council’s finance committee, voted for the proposal on Tuesday. Public support behind the proposal was very strong, he said in an interview before the meeting, adding that he is confident East Madison Ice Collective will be able to meet its fundraising obligation.
“I don't think that they would have made these representations if they weren't confident that they could achieve the capital campaign of this,” Verveer said. The nonprofit has already received donations from donors like Exact Sciences CEO Kevin Conroy and venture capital firm HealthX Ventures founder Mark Bakken, according to its website, which indicates the nonprofit has received $853,000 in donations so far.