Potential vandalism at Boardman ice rink valued at $250,000
Police say they are investigating complaints that an estimated $250,000 worth of a refrigerant, freon, was released from compressor tanks at the ice skating rink on McClurg Road.
BOARDMAN TWP., Ohio - An investigation is underway after thousands of pounds of a regulated material went missing from an ice rink in Boardman.
Police say they are investigating complaints that an estimated $250,000 worth of a refrigerant, freon, was released from compressor tanks at the ice skating rink on McClurg Road.
The building in which the rink is located was sold to new owners late last week.
According to a police report, Jesse MacGregor the owner of Extreme Air, the trampoline park which operates in the same space and purchased the building, discovered damage to the building's compressor system.
MacGregor told police that he discovered the ice temperature was set at 70 degrees and called a technician.
According to the report, the technician told police that the tank in which the freon, a refrigerant used to keep the ice at the right temperature, was discovered to be empty.
The technician allegedly said that in order to maintain operations the tank would have needed a minimum of 5,000-9,000 pounds of freon.
Each pound is estimated to cost $22-$28- putting the value of the missing chemical at approximately $250,000.
Police said that they noticed the bolt heads on several compressor motors were missing paint and were scratched, as if someone had attempted to remove them with a wrench or socket.
However, officials could not determine if the freon was released into the atmosphere, which is against EPA regulations, or if it had been removed from the tank properly.
The maintenance technician reportedly told police that in order to have been removed properly, a licensed company would have needed to reclaim the freon in a tanker truck. The company would have needed a permit to transport that amount of refrigerant, according to the report.
The report also says that the former manager of the Ice Zone said that after reporting to work last week he was "stopped by several people who worked for Phantom Fireworks".
The former manager said that he noticed several people standing around the compressors with various tools, but did not actually see them using the tools on the compressors.
However, MacGregor told officers that he has the maintenance logs to show that everything was in proper working order and functional before that point.
The Boardman Police report says that Adam Noble from the Mahoning County HazMat Team was contacted.
Noble reportedly told officers that HazMat wasn't needed to come out to the scene, but advised officers to contact the Ohio EPA.
Police say the incident is still under investigation.
The sale of Ice Zone was finalized on Friday. The new owners, who also own Extreme Air Trampoline Park next door, plan to reopen to the facility as The Deep Freeze.
The now former owner of Ice Zone is Valley Businessman Bruce Zoldan. His company released a statement late last week.
You can read the full statement below:
"This is a sad day for Bruce Zoldan and the management team at the Ice Zone in Boardman.
After 20 years, Mr. Zoldan and the team have closed the operations of the Ice Zone, Ltd. and the new owners of the building will be operating an ice skating facility under a new name.
This was not the way Mr. Zoldan envisioned welcoming in New Year's 2018. Mr. Zoldan and
the operating team had every reason to believe that they would continue to operate the Ice Zone under a lease with the new building owners. Unfortunately, that was not the case.
The new owners bought the building but did not purchase the ongoing Ice Zone, Ltd. business, nor any of the equipment, Zamboni, ice skates, refrigerant or other items owned by and used in the Ice Zone, Ltd. business operation.
One of the members of the new ownership group has been quoted as saying some of the conditions of the Ice Zone in the lease negotiations were "untenable." We believe that the new ownership group made commercially unreasonable demands in the lease negotiations and negotiated in bad faith.
One of the ice skating parents quoted in the media said that the operations will be better off under the new management. This gentleman obviously did not understand that Mr. Zoldan personally underwrote losses at the Ice Zone of approximately $400,000.00 annually.
Mr. Zoldan continued to underwrite the Ice Zone losses because he believed the Ice Zone operations offered a "quality of life" experience for the youngsters and adults who participated in hockey leagues, learn to skate programs, figure skating, and general open skating sessions.
Before Mr. Zoldan is vilified by the new owners of the building or the community, consideration should be given to the millions of dollars Mr. Zoldan paid out over 20 years to support the operations of the Ice Zone for the community. Over the years, Mr. Zoldan had partners in the Ice Zone operation, but he was the only one to consistently subsidize the operation and keep the facility operational for the community.
All of the Ice Zone, Ltd.'s ice skating property and equipment was offered to the new owners of the building. It is now available in the open market.
Mr. Zoldan and the management team appreciate the support of the community over the years and wish the new owners luck in their operations of the skating facility."
