$28M Cookeville Ice Facility Deemed Unfeasible Right Now

A potential ice facility for Cookeville deemed too costly.

At A Monday council work session, City Manager James Mills said the $28 million price tag would exhaust the city’s spending power at a time when the aquatic facility ranks high among many residents’ wants.

“We’ve only got so much money that we can spend and we can borrow,” Mills said. “And there’s no way we could afford to do both ice and aquatic. It’s impossible. Unless you want to raise property tax significantly. Now you could do that, but that’s not my take on the council.”

The planning group, Lose Design, hired by the city made a presentation to council members Monday. Lose Design Landscape Architecture Vice President Josh Gulick said the projected facility would be some 200,000 feet, including two ice sheets, skate rentals, and food vending.

Gulick said that the company projected the city would see about $3 million in direct spending at the facility, it would still be operating at a $1.1 million deficit.

“You’re going to spend about $30 million out of the gate to build the facility, which is about your debt capacity currently,” Gulick said. “So in order to get closer to the facility paying for itself, we’d have to start looking at, ‘What do those strategic partnerships look like?’ So we did have conversations with the Preds, and we talked a little bit about, ‘What is your current capacity for taking on another facility from an operations standpoint,’ and they were favorable but it’s a lot to ask.”

Gulick said that if the ice center was something the city really wanted to move forward, it would need 100 percent focus. He said that there are other consultants that can come in and evaluate how to make the project closer to breaking even, but for now, it’s a big ask for the city.

“It would max out your debt capacity, it would not be breaking even or paying for itself,” Gulick said. “It would be an awesome center for the community, I think everyone would love it, but from a feasibility standpoint, it’s going to be tough to afford.”

Mills said that he believes this study will hold for a while, but that he believes the aquatics facility is the number one want in the community. Work continues on the feasibility of that project.