County breaks ground on ice center

Former NHL players bringing 85,000-square foot complex to Eisenhower Park

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Eisenhower Park will soon be home to an 85,000-square-foot sports and recreation center, highlighted by two National Hockey League-sized ice rinks and one outdoor recreational rink. The privately financed complex will cost an estimated $15 million to construct, and will be funded by a company called Twin Rinks at Eisenhower Park LLC.

Twin Rinks is headed by former NHL players — and twin brothers — Chris and Peter Ferraro. According to Nassau County Executive Ed Mangano, the company was selected after the county issued a request for proposals last June. The company also comprises partners Joel Friedman, of Clearview Capital Management LLC, and his brother Ronald, of SilvermanAcampora LLC.

The project’s target completion date is September or October of this year, according to Kerry Gillick-Goldberg, a spokeswoman for Twin Rinks at Eisenhower. No date was announced for the start of construction, but Gillick-Goldberg said the company plans to “hit the ground running” as soon as possible.

According to Mangano, the new complex will be built just south of the Nassau County Aquatic Center. The county will receive part of the proceeds generated by the complex, though officials did not say how large its share would be. According to Gillick-Goldberg, Twin Rinks at Eisenhower has a 50-year license with the county to lease the land on which the complex will be built, and will increase its payments to the county as the term progresses. At the end of 50 years, the license is renewable for another 50 years.

At a news conference on Jan. 17, Mangano was joined by the Ferraros and their consultant, Richard Salgado, of Coastal Advisors LLC, as well the County Legislature’s presiding officer, Norma Gonsalves, a Republican from East Meadow, to break ground on the project. They used shovels that were custom-made to look like hockey sticks.

“It’s going to create some balance for our county,” Mangano said of the complex, “as well as provide unique world-class ice hockey opportunities right here in Eisenhower Park, the park that is bigger than Central Park.”

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