Provincial States make a one-off subsidy of 2.5 million euros available for the construction of a tunnel ice rink at Assen-Zuid. It is an emphatic condition that the province does not also contribute to a possible operating deficit.
The province of Drenthe refused last year to put 5 million euros in the artificial ice rink. Initiator A Nice Group (Ang) first had to see if she could invest more herself, and further sharpen the business plan.
The Rotterdam developer Ang invests 3 million euros in the tunnel ice rink, 1 million more than in the original plan. Total investment costs of the ice rink are 8.5 million euros. This leaves 5.5 million euros for the province and municipality of Assen, to make the Ice Palace possible together.
Now that the province is doing 2.5 million, there are still 3 million that should be covered by Assen. And the municipality really wants that ice rink in the Tourist Recreational Zone (TRZ) at the TT Circuit.
By Assen, 1.5 million euros had already been promised for the skating rink. But a council majority already indicated at the end of last year that a higher amount can also be discussed. For example, 2.5 million would not be a problem, and possibly even 3 million. The municipality would love to get something off the ground in the TRZ zone. She is worth something.
Tomorrow the Asser Municipal Council will meet. Of a number of parties, a motion would be in the air with the call to double the Asser contribution of 1.5 million to 3 million.
VVD State party chairman Kees Vianen was committed to the ice rink last year. He took over that baton partly from then fellow party leader Alfred Schoenmaker of Sterk Lokaal Drenthe. The VVD leader is happy that it has now been possible to get coalition colleague BBB on board for support to the ice rink.
Vianen says he has a short line with his Asser Collega-VVD party chairman Sandra Alberts. He is confident that the municipality will now take the final step.
Fred Nederlof (senior) of A Nice Group once started the tunnel ice rink in Rotterdam. “No artificial ice rink in this country can be built without money from the government. Then you will never get profitable,” he says.
In the port city of ‘success’, Ang has been operating a tunnel ice rink for twelve years, the only ice rink in the Netherlands that runs profitably. Tijs Nederlof and his father Fred also know for years why: a traditional ice rink is not profitable. In the first place, the construction costs are strong and then the exploitation difficult due to the much too high energy costs.
For the tunnel ice rink, less power is needed, because only ice cream in the skating tunnel has to be made and cooled, and not a whole ice rink. Furthermore, Ang focuses primarily on recreational sport and recreationists.
Tijs Nederlof: “Many conventional ice rinks focus on the fanatic skater and skating associations, but they miss the attraction for recreational sport and the recreational, mostly younger visitors. That while that group is extremely important for the operation of an ice rink.”
The ice cream complex costs a total of 8.5 million euros. Roads, sewerage and electricity have not yet been included. If the construction is decided this year, the tunnel ice rink can be opened at the end of 2026.
Chairman Bart Jonkers of the Drenthe region of the KNSB skating association cannot be lucky. After sixteen years there is another artificial ice rink in Drenthe, he states “good for the skating associations and young people, now that there is almost never natural ice again.”
In the States of Drenthe, Coalition Party PvdA voted against the 2.5 million subsidy, just like opposition parties Volt, D66, ChristenUnie, PvdD and GroenLinks. Two of the seventeen BBB State members also do not see the support, and voted against.
Years ago there was 5 million euros from the province to put in an artificial ice rink. After a battle between Assen and Hoogeveen, the ice rink seemed to be coming in Hoogeveen. That was canceled at the last minute, due to excessive costs, and the 5 million went back to the reserves of the province.
Tomorrow it must be apparent whether there is sufficient support in the Asser municipal council to finally pull the tunnel ice rink off the ground.