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Dear Council members:
With your imminent decision looming regarding the administration’s request for a $200k contribution for the ice tower project—which will trigger the larger grants needed to construct the tower—it is time for me to address a number of key points. Two months ago, I spoke with Amy on the phone and made the offer to address these same issues and any others you might bring up at a work session. Amy said she’d try to arrange it, but I have yet to receive the call.
So, my input:
1- HISTORY
a- In 2003 Mike Vause introduced me to Matt Godfrey. Mike had piqued Matt’s interest in developing an outdoor ice park in Ogden Canyon along the lines of the one in Ouray, Colorado. I was directly involved in the formation of that park, and created and for seven years operated the annual Ouray Ice Festival, to help fund the operations. Both the festival and the park have been very successful (www.ourayicefestival.com) and have been directly responsible for turning Ouray’s winter economy around. I sold the festival to Ouray Ice Park, Inc, in 2001.
b- We worked for over a year in 2003 and 2004 to work the details out for an Ogden Ice Park. It quickly became apparent that water rights from Pineview Water Association would be very difficult to secure. Also, The cliffs below the pipeline in Ogden Canyon are south facing, and any ice on them would be sensitive to warm spells.
c- We finally focused our efforts on Wheeler Creek, where the water rights are owned by Ogden City and the west-facing cliffs are deep down and protected from the sun for much of the day. We did due diligence with the Forest Service, including paying for a botanist to do a survey looking for Burke’s draba, a sensitive plant species (none was found in the area). We drew up plans and a budget for an ice park in Wheeler Creek. (As an aside, the budget was $130,000, which has been referenced at least twice by reporter Schwebke in the Standard Examiner as the initial budget for erecting the ice tower, which it was not) After the final application for a special use permit was submitted to the Forest Service, we were informed that their review had revealed that Wheeler Creek had recently been placed in a category of lands wherein absolutely no additional development could take place, so our application could not be considered.
d- Whereupon I contacted ESPN to inquire as to the status of the ice tower I had designed for the Winter X Games. They had retired the tower from use a couple of years before. Chris Ford and I then formed a non-profit corporation (November of 2004), acquired the tower, and shipped it in pieces on several big flatbeds from Crested Butte, Colorado, to Ogden.
e- During the year 2006 we negotiated a low-cost lease from the City for a site in Big Dee Park, and developed plans and a budget (450k) to erect the tower as it was. The original configuration, and liquid nitrogen refrigeration system, could reasonably make ice about five months of the year, and we planned to use fresh-cut aspen wood slabs as a climbing surface in the warmer months. I had tested this on a small wall twenty years ago, with decent results. It was this plan and budget which was submitted for-- and received--the $200k RAMP grant in 2007.
2- THE NEW LOCATION AND RE-DESIGN
a- When John Patterson approached me with the idea that the tower should be placed at the corner of Kiesel and 25th, and re-designed for year-round ice climbing and architectural/iconic beauty, I was initially skeptical. However, after examining the site, I could see huge advantages over the Big Dee location. For high-adventure landmark visibility, for festivals, for competitions--including World-Cups which we will host—and to help create a walking link between the Junction and Historic 25th Street, down Kiesel Avenue.
b- Working as a team with myself in a conceptual/expert-consultant role, Bill Salerno as the architect , LA Roser Company for refrigeration design and C&D Engineers for structural engineering; Spectrum Engineering for electrical and lighting; top-flight construction management by R&O, and Bowman-Kemp to build the tower, we will create a beautiful structure that will serve Ogden well, year-round. But, as we solved each new challenge, the price went up, and we are left with two big obstacles: How do we pay for construction, and how do we cover annual operating costs? You are quite aware of how we are raising the funds for construction. Your requested vote to approve $200k--restricted to be used only when the rest of the construction funds are in hand—will help to assure we accomplish that goal. What about the annual operating budget, then?
3- PLAN TO MEET ANNUAL OPERATING BUDGET NEEDS
A- If I tried to structure a business model that could cover both debt-service on a $1.6M building, AND cover operating costs, AND yield an acceptable ROI, I would fail. The fact that Ogden City will own the building, which will be mostly funded by grants and donations, and Ogden Climbing Parks (OCP), a 501(c)(3) non-profit corporation will lease the tower from the city at a low rate and operate it for public good rather than investor benefit, has huge advantages:
1- In this case, for a 200k investment that will be returned in a few years through increased tax revenue, Ogden City will own an asset worth in excess of $2M ($1.6M plus the value of the existing fabricated structure which will be donated by Ogden Climbing Parks. The fabrication and steel cost 245K, in 1996, and would be about double that, now). This asset will continue to generate tax revenue for years to come.
2- OCP, as a non-profit, is able to solicit grants and donations for programs for school kids, underserved members of the community, and people with certain disabilities. These programs drastically reduce the need for normal user-fees to cover costs. In the last six months, OCP has successfully trained and graduated five certified guides under the auspices of the American Mountain Guides Association (AMGA), and seven more guides are in training. This month, using our AMGA-certified guides, we will begin two programs. The first will be promoted through Ogden Parks and Rec teaching real climbing skills and responsibility (as opposed to just giving people a ride on a rope) at iRock in the Solomon Center. The second program, with clients from the Pioneer Adult Rehabilitation Center in Clearfield, will teach people with mild disabilities, real climbing skills at the climbing wall at Hill Air Force Base. A third program will begin soon, in partnership with the ‘Splore Foundation of Salt Lake City. For over thirty years ‘Splore has been providing adventures for the disabled. All of these programs, as well as others, will be expanded to the ice tower when the tower is ready. Each of the programs will pay a fee sufficient to cover ice tower time, and will also yield a profit that OCP will reinvest in additional programs.
3- OCP will also book blocks of tower time for seminars that will be promoted locally, nationally, and internationally. I have three decades of experience with such events. Typically, one week each month we’ll host a 5-day seminar during mid-day, mid-week, low usage days. These all-inclusive seminars will be priced at about $1,200/person and will have anywhere from 10 to 20 clients. $3,000 to $6,000 will go toward tower time, depending upon the actual costs of operating the tower. Again, excess profits will go to cover OCP administrative costs and to fund additional programs. In a similar manner, we’ll host corporate team-building days, and other special programs.
4- Because the tower and OCP operations are essentially subsidized, we can keep normal user fees low. We will have three potential 4-hour blocks available on most days, except in the summer months, when hours will be reduced. Each 4-hour block will be available to the experienced climbing public at a rate of $20/person, including boots, crampons, ice tools, helmets, harnesses and gloves. Inexperienced people can join classes of 3 and receive AMGA-certified instruction for $60/person. Semi-private instruction will be $70/person, and private instruction will be priced at $80.
5- The new location on 25th Street allows for a greatly enhanced sponsor-signage matrix in an attractive display on the south wall of the parking structure behind the tower. We are in final negotiations with our title sponsor, and have contracts with a number of others. When funding for construction is complete, we’ll go full-speed ahead until we’ve completed the matrix. When completed, the sponsor matrix will yield $225,000 or more annually. However, OCP has agreed with the Ogden City administration that the title sponsor slot can be used for construction funding. This still leaves $150,000 annually toward tower operations. In the pro-forma you have seen, only $60,000/year sponsor income is projected.
6- Likewise, the new location allows much better competitions and events to be held, with more spectators. Bigger crowds mean better television coverage. In the past 20 years almost all of the events (about a dozen) I have run have been broadcast nationally on ABC, NBC, CBS, ESPN or cable network. All events have received excellent local news exposure, as well. Ogden’s Ice Tower will do even better. The director of the bi-annual Outdoor Retailer Show in Salt Lake City, is enthusiastic about OCP hosting the OR demo days on the tower.
I could go on and on about how the tower project fits into the overall plan of OCP to make Ogden a new center for American mountaineering. We’re already well on our way to achieving that goal by hosting the world’s best at ClimbFest, our mountain-adventure art and literaure festival each spring (we just held the 2nd edition at the Union Station and Eccles Community Art Center), and Utah’s High Adventure Mountain Film Festival, scheduled for September 18 through 21 at Peery’s Egyptian and other venues. But I’ll stop here. I just wanted you to know there has been a lot of careful planning and activity behind the scenes, at OCP. The proof of the efficacy of our efforts will be “Best Climbing Town” recognition in up-coming issues of Rock and Ice, and Outside magazines. Ogden was not even on the radar screen two years ago.
Please vote yes to provide $200,000 in restricted funds for the construction of the ice tower.
Sincerely yours,
Jeff Lowe
Exective Director
Ogden Climbing Parks*
195 25th Street, suite 301
Ogden Utah 84401
Phone: (801) 392-9181
Fax: 801-392-9783
E-mail: jeff@ogdenclimbingparks.com
*a 501 (c)(3) non-profit corporation
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