Hastings hockey boosters try to cut costs on center

The Hastings Hockey Boosters were checked last week in their effort to cut costs on a $375,000 hockey training center to be built on city land next to its ice arena.

The boosters had asked the City Council to let them oversee the construction and not pay prevailing wages. The boosters plan to pay for the center, then give it to the city. They would collect fees to cover operating and maintenance costs of the facility, adjacent to the Hastings Civic Arena.

But the council voted 7-0 Monday to stick with the proposal they endorsed last summer. That resolution said the city would oversee construction and follow its policy, since 2008, of paying prevailing area wages on projects costing more than $100,000, officials said.

"We were disappointed," said Marc Chorney, chair of the training center project for the boosters. He expects the boosters will have to reduce the size of the 3,500 square-foot facility or raise more money.

Chorney said a local contractor told him paying prevailing wages could increase labor costs by 20 percent or more. Prevailing wages are the most commonly paid labor rates in the local area as determined by labor cost surveys done by the state Department of Labor and Industry.

Mayor Paul Hicks said he doubts that paying prevailing wages would rough up the boosters' budget.

"A lot of bids in this economy are very favorable. People want these kind of jobs," he said. "We've had a lot of projects come in under budget."

The proposed center would have stations for shooting, stick handling, resistance training and other strength and skills stations. Chorney said the nearest training facilities are in Eagan, Apple Valley or Lakeville.

Chorney said the center is needed because the 500-square-foot dry land training area in a loft of the city hockey arena is too small to hold a hockey team. "We are doing dry land training in the halls, the lobby and everywhere else. It's cluttered."

Chorney said the boosters hired a consultant who surveyed 250 Hastings residents in October. The survey found a good chance the community, including families of more than 600 kids playing on Hastings Hockey Association teams, would give enough to build a $375,000 training center.

He said the boosters hope to begin raising money in a month or so. Construction won't begin until the needed funds are raised, hopefully by next year.

Besides soliciting individual donations, the boosters are planning a fundraiser hockey game this summer which would pit local players against hockey association alumni who have gone on to play in the National Hockey League. Chorney said they include his son, Taylor Chorney, who plays for the Edmonton Oilers; Derek Stepan of the New York Rangers; and Jeff Taffe of the Chicago Black Hawks. Marc Chorney formerly played for the Los Angeles Kings.