Anchorage Assembly weighs management contracts for three municipal ice arenas

Youth hockey leagues, schools, figure skaters, and community ice users across Anchorage face scheduling disruption this fall if the Anchorage Assembly does not act soon on new arena management contracts. The current operator, O'Malley Ice & Sports Center, LLC, has been in uncured default since March, has let staff go, and has booked only one event past July 1. The urgency follows a February municipal audit that found the contractor did not always comply with key contract terms, including profit-sharing, supporting documentation, and recordkeeping at Sullivan, Ben Boeke, and Dempsey Anderson arenas.

The audit documented those compliance failures and prompted Assembly scrutiny of arena management. Assembly member Erin Baldwin Day raised the findings directly at Thursday's worksession, noting that O'Malley had never performed or submitted a physical inventory of municipally owned property at the facilities. "I would hope that our new contractor would begin with an accurate inventory that could then be maintained," she said.

Chief Administrative Officer Bill Fauzi told Assembly members Thursday that ice scheduling timelines drive the urgency. Under the municipal ice allocation policy, user groups receive offered ice times and have a 45-day window to accept or decline. That window collides with the active season if the process does not begin in July. Fauzi noted that the administration has negotiated a potential July 1 start date with both proposed operators to end the current period of limbo and provide certainty for facility users.

Anchorage Hockey Association President Jeanne Carey said delays would affect bookings and revenue. "Any type of delay means loss of revenue because we're not able to book these facilities," she said. "If we push out beyond July, then we're really starting to disrupt the programming for the organizations in our community."

The administration has proposed awarding Ben Boeke and Dempsey Anderson management to a nonprofit subsidiary of the Anchorage Hockey Association for $10 annually plus a one-time $450,000 transition grant, and Sullivan Arena management to All In 49 LLC, with the municipality covering a capped net operating deficit of up to $613,500 annually. Both contracts target a July 1 start date. Sullivan Arena is a municipally owned facility that hosts youth and adult hockey, figure skating, and other ice sports throughout the year, and serves as the home venue for the Anchorage Wolverines.

The Boeke and Dempsey proposal also includes pausing the 5% capital reserve deposits through 2029 while the reserve balance stands at approximately $1.3 million, allowing the new nonprofit operator to direct more funds toward near-term facility maintenance. Fauzi noted that approving both contracts would require an additional $400,000 to be placed somewhere in the venues budget before year-end, on top of the Sullivan subsidy already built into that budget.