No timeline on new lobby at ice arena, but Bourne is hiring for the project. What we know.

BOURNE – Plans that have unfolded over five years to construct a new lobby at the John Gallo Ice Arena along Sandwich Road next to the Cape Cod Canal have taken another step forward.

The Bourne Recreation Authority is searching for an owner’s project manager via legal advertising. Authority General Manager Barry Johnson on Jan. 10 said the move is necessary for any construction project estimated at more than $1.5 million.

Authority members in 2019 estimated the lobby cost at $4 million.

“They’ll assist in the selecting and act as the go-between of the authority and the firm hired to design the project,” Johnson said, of the owner's project manager. “Do specifications. Review the construction responses. Do construction administration and final project close-outs.”

What is the Gallo ice rink?

Gallo opened in 1973 on U.S. Army Corps of Engineers property just east of the Bourne Bridge. Its finances, operations and property decisions are closely governed by the federal agency.

The rink provides ice time for skating programs, the public, youth hockey contingents and Bourne, Sandwich and Upper Cape Tech hockey teams. The facility also accommodates regional playoffs for the Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Association.

Expanding and modernizing the rink lobby must pass muster with the Army Corps of Engineers Real Estate Division in Concord. That review is pending, Johnson said.

“Our correspondence to the Corps about the lobby is in progress,” he noted in a Jan. 10 email. “It goes out to Concord very soon. The local Corps office at Taylors Point is very aware of the proposal as well as the Scenic Park connection to the town sewer system, which has been approved by the Bourne Select Board.”

The Bourne Recreation Authority is a five-member board, with one member appointed by the governor and four elected by Bourne voters. The authority operates the ice arena and Bourne Scenic Park campground, also on Army Corps of Engineers land.

In 2023: Bourne pushes for meeting with Corps of Engineers on Scenic Campground, rink improvements

The pending message to the Corps will address the lobby and sewer connection proposals, Johnson said. He also said lobby construction is still a future goal, assuming financing becomes available.

Naming rights for a lobby were considered by the authority as a way to raise funds for the proposal at the suggestion of Facilities Director Robert Corradi and supported by Authority member Greg Folino. But the idea was unsuccessful.

Corradi managed a makeover of the Massachusetts Maritime Academy football stadium and gymnasium on Taylors Point when he was the athletic director at the academy.

Folino in 2019 said there were no envisioned timeframes for rink lobby work to be undertaken, but there was optimism that “ideas will be gained” about what is feasible if the small-but-serviceable lobby, notably the building entrance, is widened and enhanced.

Lobby funding opportunities

Since 2019, the authority has secured a revised enabling act with state legislative approval that allows the board to borrow money without any underwriting financial support from the town of Bourne.

Such borrowing, along with grant opportunities, may in the end play a contributing role in rink lobby construction if approved by the Army Corps of Engineers, board members said last August.

As planned, the rink lobby would expand to the west and east of the current entrance. It would include windows to afford more light to the interior. Corradi in August said final costs were pending for a 4,500 square-foot lobby but were initially estimated at $4 million.

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This article originally appeared on Cape Cod Times: Will Gallo ice rink finally expand its lobby? Bourne is hiring for it.