August 2011 - Parks & Recreation - 68

relationships with foundations, corporations, and other sources of funds. After
all, innovative changes to the built environment require both money and collaboration. It is difficult to keep momentum
going continually, she said, especially
while seeking out new partners.
For Bill Sheehan (also of MNCPPC),
whose background lies in operations, new
citywide initiatives requiring cross-departmental cooperation mean layers of bureaucracy. And working through those layers
requires both tenacity and diplomacy.
Amy Green, who works for New York
City's parks department, says many of
New York's new measures, such as the
smoking ban in parks, require that citizens
take responsibility for enforcement. The
smoking ban is a prime example of a public health policy that demands partnership
with all park visitors who value smoke-free
public spaces.

And Paul Gilbert, director of the Northern Virginia Regional Park Authority, cited the change the 45-mile Washington &
Old Dominion Trail is undergoing from a
recreational trail to a commuter trail. The
trail itself is already being used for commuter purposes by area residents, and the
-NVRPA seeks to formalize the commutertrail status so as to justify new safety and
security measures. The challenge, as he
puts it, is " how to get people to buy into
change. " Even change that has, in large
part, already occurred.
Schilling commented that difficulties
and delays relating to bureaucracy exist
everywhere-from small towns, to college
campuses, to cities. While frustrating, he
commented, the process of working with
other agencies is critical to the kinds of
comprehensive change that communities
need to be safer and healthier places to
live. It's also a sign that the messy process

of collaboration is taking place.
Coleman pointed out that two themes
common to participants' questions were,
" How do we manage change? " and " How
do we engage communities? " The answer
to both questions, insisted Coleman, lies
in community engagement. " The challenge for those leading innovation in the
built environment, " he said, " is having a
sustainable community you can turn to.
Developing infrastructure requires doing
basic research into the community. " And
the people with the titles, he cautioned, are
not always the people with the influence.
The next NRPA/CPPW Roundtable will be
September 20 in San Antonio, Texas, and
will address joint-use agreements. For more
information or to register, contact Kellie
May at 703.858.2176. Admission is free, but
there is a fee for the breakfast , lunch, and
snack during the roundtable.

New Ice Arena Management School in 2012

NRPA

has partnered with the Ice Skating Institute
and National Training Center at Oglebay to
present the 2012 Ice Arena Institute of Management (iAIM).
The iAIM school is designed to help students become successful in the operation, management, and programming of their
facilities. The program offers three tracks for those involved
in the management of ice arena facilities: the
Certificate of Arena Management, the Certificate of Arena Operations, and the Certificate
of Arena Programming.
According to Peter Martell, executive director of the Ice Skating Institute, in the past
the majority of ice arenas around the country
were publicly owned and operated. Over the
past 10 years, there has been a move toward
these facilities having to operate as self susMartell
taining. In addition, there has been a move
toward privatizing or outsourcing the operations of ice arena facilities.
" This has made efficient and profitable operations much
more critical. Consequently education for how to achieve that
has become much more important, " Martell says.
In the past, facility managers would schedule various outside groups that would come in and use the facility, but did
not have responsibility for programming the activity that
took place on the ice. Today more facilities are hiring staff to

66 Parks & Recreation

AUGUST 2011

www.NRPA .ORG

program content. " Facilities are taking control of their own
destinies instead of just leasing their facilities to outside user
groups, " Martell explains.
Environmental stewardship and conservation are other issues that affect ice arenas nationwide. The number one operating cost for ice arena facilities is utilities, making energy
management systems critical to an arena's success.
Air quality is another factor that has potentially major consequences in the industry; arena managers are responsible for
maintaining healthy facilities for their users. Additionally, recent legislation has dictated changes in the refrigerant used
in ice arenas which, of course, has far-reaching implications
in the industry.
The iAIM school curriculum is designed to address these
trends and many others that affect the successful operation of
an ice arena. " The school courses are designed to give the students the tools they need to operate their facilities efficiently
and productively, " Martell says. " The Ice Skating Institute made
the decision to return iAIM to the Oglebay setting because it
offers the ideal learning environment. And the networking
opportunities incorporated into the school schedule provide
learning opportunities outside of the classroom. "
Join us for the Ice Arena Institute of Management, September 23-27, 2012 at the National Training Center at Oglebay,
Wheeling, West Virginia.
-Beth Wickline

August 2011 - Parks & Recreation

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