Executives of Southwest Sports Group, which has developed rinks in the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex, have pitched their idea to the Cedar Park City Council. The company and the city are exploring the proposal. Southwest owns the Dallas Stars, a National Hockey League team, and the Texas Rangers major league baseball club. Cedar Park officials could not be reached for comment before press time.

Bryan Perez, a vice president with Southwest, tells GlobeSt.com that it's too early to tell what kind of financial structure a deal might have. "It depends on size of the building and what we both decide works," he says. It is a given, however, that the city would own the facility. "It's a community asset," Perez says. "At the end of some extraordinarily long lease, the city would retain ownership."

While Southwest has scouted sites, it has not settled on one, according to Perez. "In general, there seem to be numerous sites that would be fine," he says. "So we're not fixated on any particular site and where the facility might be located."

Perez says Central Texas in general and Cedar Park in particular are similar to the other areas such as Duncanville, Euless and Frisco, where it has rinks or is building them. "We've been very attracted to Central Texas and greater Austin area for several years now," he tells GlobeSt.com. "It's not a coincidence that we're building in Frisco, the fastest growing city in the state, and Cedar Park is the second-fastest growing."

Perez says the facility can take a couple of shapes from a simple layout with two rinks to something more complex with one rink surrounded by arena seating. The facility under construction in Frisco has 3,750 seats and Perez says a Cedar Park project could have as many as 5,500 seats and be the home ice for a minor league or amateur hockey team.

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Southwest Sports Group Pitches Ice Facility to Cedar Park

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