Martha’s Vineyard arena explores solar roof opportunity

Rink booster says investing in much-needed roof repairs and solar energy conversion could benefit investor and Islanders alike.

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The MV Ice Arena would reduce its operating costs by up to 50 percent with the addition of solar panels. — File photo by Ralph Stewart

The Martha’s Vineyard Arena (MVA) is showing its age. The 20-year-old roof on the 40-year-old building is leaking. Since it’s not insulated, the roof hemorrhages heat in the winter and air conditioning in the summer. The MVA electric bill is over $100,000 a year — more than half the annual operating budget.

Now the technology exists so the hot sun can keep the ice cold year-round. The opportunity also exists for an investor to make his or her money back, with interest, while helping to improve one of the Island’s main sports and recreation venues, according to Bob Mone of West Tisbury, a longtime supporter of the rink and former member of the Martha’s Vineyard Commission.

Owner of Mone Insurance in Vineyard Haven, Mr. Mone is looking for an investor to fund the new roof and the installation of photovoltaic cells that he said would supply over 95 percent of the arena’s energy needs.

“You rarely see an opportunity to donate to a good cause and get your money back with interest,” Mr. Mone said in an interview with The Times. “When I first saw the numbers, I thought it was just too good to be true. But it’s not.”

Mr. Mone said that the investor would be able to recoup his loan, which will be in the neighborhood of $1.6 million, with interest ranging from four to six percent over ten years, through a combination of tax benefits estimated at $806,196 after six years and proceeds from the sale of Renewable Energy Certificates (REC) expected to generate $642,834 over seven years.

According to the Massachusetts Executive Office of Energy & Environmental Affairs, RECS are tradeable energy commodities that require 1 megawatt hour of electricity be generated from an eligible renewable energy resource. RECS can be sold or traded at auction once a year. The investor will own the solar array and completely control the funds it generates.

“Right now, we’re leaning towards Bennett Electric to do the solar work,” Mr. Mone said. “They’re the low bid and they want to put the photovoltaic cells on the roof, which will cost less than putting them on a separate canopy, and would make the permitting process a lot simpler.”

The environment will also benefit from the MVA renovation. “I really want the rink to go green,” Mr. Mone said. “Currently it has one of the biggest carbon footprints on the Vineyard. By keeping the energy costs in check, it will also help provide long-term financial security for the rink.”

Financial stability is an ongoing issue for the MVA. Like many public rinks of the 1960s and 1970s, the MVA grew in stages — pieces and parts were added over the years, when funds allowed. Mr. Mone and his wife, Gayle, were among the volunteers who built the first incarnation of the MVA in 1973, when Islanders laid the pipe and created an ice surface that was cleaned with a small plow on a Jeep. Side boards were added soon after, and later a roof. The MVA became a year-round facility in 1992 when side walls were added, making it a fully enclosed rink.

Family responds to tragedy

Ryan Mone, Mr. Mone’s youngest son who was a senior stand-out on the Martha’s Vineyard Regional High School hockey team, died in a car accident on New Year’s Eve, 1998. The following year, the Mones began a drive to improve the MVA facilities, raising funds to replace the flimsy plywood dressing rooms with heated locker rooms and showers.

That the MVA has flourished is the result of the Mones’ desire to memorialize Ryan, and the effect their story had on Bob Levine, a summer resident based in Colorado, who read about the Mones in a local paper and went on to underwrite major MVA improvements. These days the rink bustles nine months a year with high school hockey, amateur hockey leagues, figure skating, and youth instructional camps and youth hockey tournaments, including the annual Ryan Mone memorial tournament. But the roof leaks are only going to get worse, and the electricity bill is only going to get bigger until the new roof and solar panels are in place.

“We want to get this project done as soon as possible,” Mr. Mone said. “Once we get the funding, we could have it done in six months.”

Auction tonight

Raising money for the MVA is a family affair for the Mones. Their oldest son, Jon Mone, a former MVRHS hockey stand-out, and executive producer of the hit movie “Ted,” is providing a walk-on role in “Ted 2” as an auction item at tonight’s Ice Savours, to be emceed by comedian Lenny Clarke. Other auction items include a sunset sail and cocktails on Nat Benjamin’s schooner Charlotte, paella for 10 from Kitchen Porch catering, two tickets to the PGA championship in Florida, four tickets to a Bruins game with a tour of the NBC live feed truck, four tickets to the October 5 Patriots game against the Cincinnati Bengals, rounds of golf at Farm Neck, Mink Meadows, and Vineyard Golf Club, and fishing with “Living it” charters. The event will be held at Farm Neck Golf Club in Oak Bluffs, from 6 to 9 pm. Cocktails and hors d’oeuvres will be served and the live auction begins at 7:15. Tickets are $100. For more information, call 509-693-4438.