Both David S Palmer Arena General Manager Teri Gaffney and former Danville Dashers owner Barry Soskin have confirmed that plans are now in place to bring back pro hockey, and the Danville Dashers, to the arena ice in time for the 2024-25 season.
Gaffney stated that coming out of executive session at the Tuesday, November 21st board meeting; the decision had been made, upon consideration of two separate proposals, to work with Soskin to bring back the Dashers. Soskin has told Neuhoff Media that the final piece of work will be signing the lease, and that a conference call to work on that is scheduled for the week of November 27th.
Soskin says he is now more comfortable with where the parties are going on the length of the lease, and looks for that to be finalized in negotiations. Soskin also stated that yes, Diane Short will be back as his general manager for the Dashers. And he reminded hockey fans that Short will be once again operating the business side of things.
AUDIO: The way my operations work, the GM does not have anything with the players. It’s more of an administrative role, from the tickets and the revenue standpoint.
As far as who’s going to coach the Dashers, Soskin says he had someone in mind IF the Dashers could have returned for the current season. So we shall see.
AUDIO: I had a former Danville Dashers player, who I was going to have as a head coach. After I sign the lease, I will look to see if he is still interested.
Another issue discussed during the November 21st board meeting was the need to replace the Palmer Arena’s HVAC system. Six of the eight existing units are currently not working, and Gaffney says they have to get things started right now by going out for the bids. Gaffney also mentioned that previous estimates they have heard for cost of a replacement system run between $1.5 million and $1.75 million; and discussions on how quickly to proceed with the installation of new units, and possible financial options, are just getting started.
AUDIO: We have a couple of things out there we’re working on. And when we get more information, and are in a better position to say something, we will.
Creativity on how to finance a new HVAC system recently became even more important when the Danville City Council passed the buck to the County Board for some assistance this time around; and then the County Board said no and returned the issue to the City Council.
