MURRAY -- A new ice rink opened here Friday without the usual fanfare from local officials.
That's not because city officials aren't excited about the County Ice Center, built by Salt Lake County with the voter-approved Zoo Arts and Parks tax. It's just not exactly what city officials originally wanted -- their own ice rink with a community center."We are trying to welcome it with open arms," said D'Arcy Dixon Pignanelli, the mayor's chief of staff. But it's disappointing that Murray didn't have more of a say in it, she added.
That sentiment isn't unusual in a city that is self-reliant. Murray provides most of its services to residents, including its own parks and recreation program. Yet officials say they appreciate the county's support.
"I personally am thrilled we have a venue to offer residents in Murray city," said Mayor Dan Snarr. He and other city officials planned to attend Friday's ceremony -- open to the public -- at 10:30 a.m. at the County Ice Center, 5201 Murray Park Lane. The location of the old fairgrounds.
Salt Lake County commissioners were there to kick off a weekend of free events, including free hockey and learn-to-skate clinics. There is a $5 adult admission for the 9 p.m. Friday hockey game between the University of Utah and Utah State University.
In contrast to Murray leaders, county officials are fired-up about the new rink.
"This is fantastic," said Jim Braden, spokesman for Salt Lake County commissioners.
The $6.8 million ice rink is the first major facility built with the ZAP tax approved by voters in 1996. At that time, voters agreed to hike the sales tax by one-tenth of 1 percent to fund recreation facilities, Hogle Zoo, parks and arts and cultural organizations. "It's the start of something good," he added.
According to a recently released 1998 report, the ZAP fund last year collected and spent $13.9 million. About $4.2 million went toward building recreational facilities, $1.8 million to Hogle Zoo and $8 million to a wide variety of arts and cultural organizations ranging from the Utah Symphony to Swiss Chorus Edelweiss.
"(The ZAP tax) has enabled an entire spectrum of organizations, large and small, to share their art and traditions with the entire community," said Lynette Hiskey, ZAP program coordinator for Salt Lake County.
A second ZAP-funded recreational facility opens next week -- the 81,000-square-foot equestrian arena at the new fairgrounds in South Jordan. A dozen other projects will be operational within a year.
The ice rink is needed, said the city's Public Services Director Doug Hill. "I think it does provide a benefit to our citizens."
Besides the Acord Ice Center in West Valley City's Centennial Park, the only other full-size ice sheets in the Salt Lake area are located at the Cottonwood Heights Recreation Center, the E Center in West Valley City and another one 10 miles north in Bountiful. The Oquirrh Park Olympic speed-skating oval in Kearns, which is being reconstructed, will have two full-size ice sheets eventually.
Hill, however, said there was some disappointment over the process.
In 1995, Murray surveyed residents about the community's recreation needs. Residents wanted a community center with an ice rink.
"Murray has a strong ice hockey program," said Hill. High school kids would have to travel to Bountiful to play. So the city saw the ZAP tax as a way to help pay for its own facility. There was a hitch: The ZAP tax bill was written so that the county receives all the tax money. For legal reasons, that meant the county would run all the facilities it builds throughout the county.
That's the reality, said Braden. "We have countywide facilities that transcend municipal boundaries."
The County Ice Center is just one perk to Murray. Also on the old fairgrounds property are soccer and rugby fields that make the area a full-time recreational center.
That's what has Snarr excited.
"Not only do we get an ice arena but just as importantly, brand-new rugby and soccer fields," said Snarr. "The county went one step beyond. It cleaned up the old fairgrounds, which was dust and mud for most of the year, and turned it into a year-round recreational facility."
Deseret News staff writer Alan Edwards contributed to this story.