By NEAL WAGNER / City Editor

The Pelham Civic Complex soon could get a new name, as members of the Pelham City Council could vote on the matter during its Jan. 8 meeting.

The announcement came after council members discussed possibly adding the word “ice” to the Civic Complex’s name during a Dec. 17 work session. “I think there was enough consensus in the room for the council to move forward with renaming it,” said Pelham Mayor Gary Waters. “I think it would tentatively be called the Pelham Civic Complex and Ice Arena. The plan is to add ‘ice’ into the name somehow.”

During the work session, city officials said they sought feedback from Civic Complex patrons in the weeks leading up to the discussion.

City Council President Rick Hayes said the council will continue to discuss the matter during its next work session, and likely will vote on the matter during its Jan. 8 regular meeting.

The Civic Complex contains two Olympic-sized ice skating rinks, and Hayes said many do not know Pelham has the only ice rinks in central Alabama.

“Marketing is something we desperately need at the Pelham Civic Complex,” Hayes said. “We are still running into the issue of folks not knowing we’ve got even one Olympic-sized ice rink, much less two.”

Hayes said the Civic Complex’s new name has not yet been finalized by the council members.

“At this point, we are just brainstorming on how we could rename it,” Hayes said, noting he plans to seek feedback on the matter over the next few weeks.

Pelham’s previous mayor and council members said the Civic Complex loses about $1 million annually.

“We need a business plan, and we need to execute that plan to market the facility,” Hayes said. “It has an extreme amount of potential as a business, and to the people in the community. It’s a phenomenal opportunity.”