The Shawano Hockey League remains without a contract for the use of the Crawford Center.
Members of the Shawano County Public Property Committee tabled consideration of a lease at its May 2 meeting. Instead, they will first meet with a prospective buyer of the property, which is owned by the county at the fairgrounds.
The hockey league continues to push for a long-term lease of five years, as was generally the case in the past. The exception was the 2023-24 contract that was only for one year.
Steve Dreher, Shawano County building maintenance department manager, told the committee it might be wise to do a one-year lease if the potential sale of the building proves fruitful.
“I met with a gentleman we had talked about last month that had given me a cold call,” Dreher said. “He wants to know if the county would be interested in selling the facility. He is interested in doing a year-round facility for the youth.”
Dreher said the prospective buyer understands the building is used during the county fair and the building rests on county property, which would not be for sale.
“He would come in and make some additions and changes,” Dreher said. “He would like to add a big kitchen area.”
Dreher said the prospective buyer, who lives and owns a business in Shawano, suggested he may want to add some additional property to the Crawford Center site.
“He expressed to me he would definitely keep them (hockey association) in there as a youth thing during the winter months,” Dreher said. “I don’t know if the committee or county board would be truly interested in selling the facility. That’s entirely up to you, but this would be a way to divest ourselves of the responsibility of that facility.
“Now, what impact it might have politically in the area would remain to be seen. I don’t know in the community if it would be viewed as a good thing or a bad thing. Would it be a slap in the face to the Crawfords, or would it be viewed as something wonderful. I don’t know if the guy would keep the name that’s on it.”
Shawano County Board Chairman Tom Kautza suggested holding a closed session meeting with the prospective buyer before considering a new lease with the hockey league.
“If he wants to stay anonymous in the meantime, I think we can have that meeting or discussion in closed session,” Kautza said
Adam Gafner, president of the hockey league, wrote in an email the league still prefers a five-year lease, with the same terms as before.
“This allows for a few things. Protects the county from an ‘increase’ in electric rates, which was an issue for the county in the last five-year lease,” he wrote. “It allows us to have a longer term plan regarding our marketing plans/fundraising going forward.”
He acknowledged the committee’s concerns about the turnover rate of hockey league board members.
“I’m the (Shawano Community High School) coach,” Gafner wrote. “I have a 12U son, a 10U son and now a 6U player starting this season. I will be around for the next decade-plus.”
Finally, Gafner reminded the committee the hockey league would like to consider an addition to the building to create more locker room space, showers and a workout/training area.
“This is not something we would ask (money) from the county for,” he wrote. “However, in order to fundraise for this type of project or go to the community with this request, a long-term commitment to the building is needed.”
Committee members initially suggested the county consider a three-year lease to coincide with the length of term of hockey league board members but later agreed to hold off until discussions with the prospective buyer were held.
kpasson@newmedia-wi.com
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