It’s exodus for Genesis at the Wichita Ice Center after litany of user complaints
Genesis is out and Rink Management Service Corp. is back as the manager of the Wichita Ice Center.
The Wichita City Council took that action after hearing from a parade of users of the facility with a litany of complaints of lack of maintenance and unpaid bills.
Genesis Health Clubs, owned by Rodney and Brandon Steven, has run the ice center for more than 10 years in conjunction with a private health club the company installed on the second floor.
“No one disputes that Genesis can manage a health club, but this has not been the case when it comes to the ice center,” said Jolene Taylor, a longtime officer in the Wichita Figure Skating Club . “It has become clear to us over and over that management only cares about the health club upstairs.”
She said that was illustrated by an incident in 2020 when the skating club was hosting a major sectional figure skating competition drawing teams from as far away as California.
“Two teams of approximately 20 skaters were kicked out of their warm-up room at the Wichita Ice Center by Genesis management just so one person could take a yoga class,” she said. “This occurred despite the fact that we had a contract stating the space was going to be used for the event.”
Tony Ries, president of the Kansas Hockey Officials Association, said Genesis has been slow to pay referees even though the company collects the money straight from the players through their organizations.
”Ever since Genesis has taken over, we’ve had payment issues with them,” he said. “Several times we were 60 days past due. We’re not talking a couple hundred dollars, we’re talking thousands of dollars. One time it was $12,000. I sent several e-mails and phone calls to the CFO of Genesis.”
Those messages went unanswered, Ries said, so in response, the officials went on strike and games had to be canceled.
A day later, Reese said, he finally got a meeting with the CFO.
“He said ‘I don’t understand why you guys even need refs for ice hockey,’” Reese said. “That says something . . . The CFO of Genesis doesn’t understand why we need referees. That’s the people that are running this rink.”
The Genesis opponents were backed up by a petition, signed by 3,700 people, complaining about the conditions at the rink.
Common complaints from users have included blown-out lights, rotted floors in the bench area, recurring problems with the Zamboni used to smooth the ice and non-functioning scoreboards.
Genesis didn’t send anyone to Tuesday’s meeting to defend its performance, although it was the only other bidder seeking the contract.
The Steven brothers also own the Wichita Thunder minor-league hockey team that practices at the center. The team is behind in payments for their ice time and the city is pursuing that debt, City Manager Robert Layton said.
The fate of the upstairs health club is unresolved. The city has made an offer to allow Genesis to continue using the space but hasn’t heard back, said Recreation and Parks Director Troy Houtman.
Lou Lombardo, the regional manager for RMSC and a former manager of the Wichita Ice Center, vowed to keep close ties with the user groups, including monthly meetings with the rink manager and quarterly visits by him.
The only dissenting vote on the change came from council member Jeff Blubaugh, who objected to a provision in the contract dealing with operating losses during the first year.
In years two through five of the contract, any losses at the facility will come out of RMSC’s $6,500 monthly management fee.
But the contract holds RMSC harmless that first year in recognition that the ice center will need substantial work to bring it back up to expected standards, Houtman said.
Layton added that the city will receive monthly reports on ice center spending and income to mitigate its financial risks in year one and has the ability to quickly end the contract if there are breaches.
This story was originally published January 18, 2022 at 11:36 AM.
