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| Ice rink, hotel in the works in Cape Coral |
Southwest Florida residents and tourists could be ice skating at a new arena and staying overnight at an adjacent hotel in Cape Coral as soon as next year.
Local Saturn dealership owner Bob Goodman and Creighton Development are ready to build a 1,381-seat arena with three rinks, a four-story hotel with 99 rooms and a conference center and two restaurants on 10 acres of city-owned land on the north side of Sun Splash Family Waterpark on Santa Barbara Boulevard. The land would be leased by the city to the hotel and arena.
Preliminary plans have been drafted, a hotelier and restaurateurs have been lined up, and the project will be considered by the Cape Coral City Council on July 20. Construction could begin on the 110,000-square-foot arena and 100,000-square-foot hotel toward the end of this year and be finished by mid-2010. By comparison, Germain Arena in Estero is 180,000 square feet and the Holiday Inn Express in Cape Coral has 138 rooms.
Dan Creighton, head of Creighton Development, would not reveal the cost of the project or names of the hotels or restaurants involved.
“I’m excited about this. I think it’s going to help restore confidence in our city,” said city Councilman Tim Day. “Any time you see new dollars coming in, that’s a positive thing.”
Councilman Bill Deile said he’s willing to consider the project.
“If we can partner with private enterprise to where it doesn’t cost the taxpayers anything, I’m all for that,” Deile said.
The project, said Christy Vogt, the city’s Economic Development coordinator, would bring a boost to Cape Coral’s economy.
“It’ll bring in tourists as well as residential income,” she said.
Creighton said 30 percent to 40 percent of the rink’s revenue would come from Cape Coral residents who wouldn’t have to drive to rinks in Fort Myers and Estero. He said the arena also would draw from Punta Gorda, Port Charlotte and other nearby communities.
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