Residents will get a full season of skating at the Ice Pavilion at Roosevelt Park under the city’s proposed 2022 recreation budget, which was hit hard by COVID restrictions last year that led to Longmont cutting the skating season short last year.
The city almost closed the ice rink in late January as the recreation department dealt with a $1.1 million reduction in its overall budget. COVID-19 restrictions limited indoor and outdoor gatherings and the revenue that comes from the fees from residents who wanted to take part in recreation programs.
The city council eventually agreed to dip into its contingency fund to come up with $32,000 to keep the rink open through March after several residents lobbied for more funding. The ice rink — which usually operates from November through March — provides a venue for open recreation ice skating, ice hockey and other programs.
The city plans to add $30,000 into the recreation budget to keep the ice rink operating from November though March 2022, Karen Roney, Longmont’s community services director told the city council Tuesday.
The budget, if approved, also sets aside $40,000 to open the Kanemoto Park swimming pool for the 2022 summer and $50,000 for a reduced version of the annual Rhythm on the River, Longmont’s free summer music and arts festival.
In all, the city is proposing a $5 million budget for the recreation division in 2022, compared to $4.7 million in 2021, according to the budget submitted to the city council.
City officials told the council, Tuesday, they are trying to help the recreation division regain its footing after services and offerings were diminished through the pandemic.
“We will do our best to continue operations as best as possible,” Roney told the council
The recreation division was hit hardest by COVID restrictions and the pandemic continues to discourage indoor play, City Manager Harold Dominguez told the council. Boulder County Public Health is still requiring masks to be worn in gyms and recreation centers.
“What we can tell you is that people aren’t coming back at the same levels as they were,” Dominguez said. “Even when restrictions were lifted” recreation programs still lagged, he said.
Golf, meanwhile, continues to do well in the pandemic, Dominguez said.
“A lot of people took up golf with COVID and they are continuing to play,” he said.
Golf revenues were $500,000 over projections in 2020 and year to date, revenue is $300,000 more than 2020 revenue, Roney said.
