RoughRiders seek long-term lease with Cedar Rapids

CEDAR RAPIDS - The city and Cedar Rapids RoughRiders have been meeting recently in attempts to negotiate a new long-term lease that would keep the junior hockey club in town and at the Cedar Rapids Ice Arena for as many as 30 years.

The sides met Friday, in fact, and plan to do so again in 10 days. RoughRiders CEO Jeff Jauch said his franchise is willing to sign three 10-year leases with the city to guarantee the United States Hockey League team would remain in what is affectionately known as "The Stable."

"What we want to do is set up a long-term arrangement to be in this city and at this arena," Jauch said. "We want to be here a heck of a long time. We're a community organization, we've put a lot of money into this facility, as everyone knows, and we want to continue to invest in the facility. We feel this is a great town for this hockey club."

"We have a good grasp on the framework for what an agreement would look like," said Cedar Rapids City Council member Chuck Swore. "But we have a lot of things left to iron out."

Jauch's Newco Riders, LLC, which nominally includes Head Coach/General Manager Mark Carlson and his wife, Tammy, has owned the franchise since May 2009. It spent $500,000 on arena improvements in exchange for lower annual rent and a 10-percent cut of arena concessions in an amended lease signed a year later that runs through 2014.

Neither Jauch or the city will comment on specifics of a potential new lease, though multiple sources not directly involved in the negotiations say the RoughRiders have a desire to run the Ice Arena. National company VenuWorks operates it now.

"It's been a great four years," Jauch said. "Obviously, not without its challenges and everything else, but that's just part of business. It's been good, and I look forward to more. A long-term relationship with the city is where we want to get."

"We'll get it done," Swore said. "They want to stay, and we'd like to keep them here."