By Jennie Miller
C & G Staff Writer

SOUTHFIELD — If you build it, they will come.

That’s the mantra being followed by the Little Caesars Amateur Sports Foundation, which partnered with the city of Southfield to take over managerial duties of the Southfield Ice Arena less than two months ago, only to go full-steam ahead with plans to invest $4 million-$5 million in the facility.

Conceptual site plans were announced June 29 before the Southfield City Council, members of which gave Little Caesars the go-ahead to proceed with the development of the details before facing the Southfield Planning Commission in early July.

The plans could include an indoor aquatic facility, a gymnasium, an indoor track and a fitness center, as well as a second ice rink. The city’s existing outdoor activities, such as volleyball and tennis, would remain.

“It would be a full-scope recreation center,” explained Bill Waterhouse, director of the Southfield Parks and Recreation Department, adding that it has long been a dream of city planners to one day have such a facility. The partnership with Little Caesars makes that dream a reality, even in trying economic times.

“This is a real stimulus package for the city,” said proud Southfield City Councilman Don Fracassi. “Everybody is out of money, everybody is holding back, nobody is spending money, and here comes little Southfield with this expansion. People are still talking about the ‘field Zone, and about the library. We are really in the forefront of a lot of recreational facilities. Our community will have pride in what we’re doing, and I think that’s really important.”

The best part about the plan, Waterhouse said, is that it will be funded with foundation dollars, and not by placing a financial burden on residents.

“We’re not spending our tax dollars,” Waterhouse said. “Little Caesars is willing to fund it all. … And we could offer programs that we can’t offer now.”

With council approval, the plans will now be placed on the fast track, Waterhouse said.

“By this time next year, they’d like to have a second slab of ice,” he said, adding that the presentation of the site plan before the Planning Commission is tentatively set for July 7. In August, a public hearing would be held, along with another meeting for commission approval, and then in September, the plans would come before the City Council for final approval. If all goes smoothly, ground could be broken around Sept. 22.

“They need to get a shovel in the ground in the fall to get foundation things completed to get it done next summer,” Waterhouse explained.

The contract between the city and Little Caesars that was approved by council in May is a two-year agreement, and will need to be scrapped and redone entirely given the new relationship between the two entities.

“What we’re looking at is probably a ground-lease agreement, and obviously a much longer term, probably 20 years for a facility of this nature,” Waterhouse said.

Glenn Murray, governor of the Little Caesars AAA Hockey Club, was present at the June 29 meeting in Southfield, along with the proposed project’s construction manager, Frank Rewold. Murray’s wife, Lisa Ilitch Murray, serves as director of the Little Caesars Amateur Sports Foundation and was present at the Southfield City Council meeting in May to seal the deal between the two entities.

“We’re going to make something really special,” Murray said. “I’m very, very excited about coming to this city. It’s a great community, and we’re really happy to be here. This is the perfect location for us.”

City Councilman Ken Siver expressed his support for the proposal, but stressed that the city should give serious consideration to the fact that the expansion would create a regional facility, much like the library has developed into.

“When we approved the library, we never — we wanted a first-class library, and I think it became a little bigger than we expected,” Siver said. “I think we need to go into it knowing that it is going to impact this site and it is going to change the character of this site as a regional facility, because that is what it will become.”

Southfield City Planner Nik Banda pointed out that the implications of the expanded facility would almost definitely include an economic boost to the area. Being a “hockey guy,” Banda said families like his spend thousands of dollars on the road during tournaments; Southfield has money and exposure to gain from this venture, he said.

“We talked to all these hotels that are just, for lack of a better word, drooling over this,” Banda said.

Waterhouse added that even though the facility would become a regional attraction, Southfield residents would not lose out on the deal. The community would still have the existing crop of recreational programs and then some, he said.

“I see this as a very positive step for us,” agreed City Councilwoman Joan Seymour. “It will become a regional facility, but it gives opportunities for our people that they wouldn’t otherwise have had.”

Southfield resident Jim Moloney, a self-proclaimed “hockey nut,” couldn’t contain his glee at overhearing the presentation during the City Council meeting.

“It will be an enormous advantage for us here to have this kind of organization — Caesars has been in this game for years, and they know the ins and outs, and we can kind of sit back because they know what they are doing. We are in for a real treat if this comes forth.”