Community leaders ask county to prioritize indoor ice rink and recreation projects, noting data-center revenue

Community sports volunteers and the Loudoun County Chamber of Commerce asked the Board of Supervisors to use county resources — including revenues tied to data centers — to fund attainable housing and nonprofit grants and to consider adding ice sheets or modifying planned recreation projects to replace two sheets of ice that community members said are being lost at a private facility.

Theo Stamatis, representing the Loudoun County Chamber of Commerce, told the board the chamber supports "continued investment to address Loudoun's housing affordability crisis" and thanked the board for dedicating resources to the housing trust fund. He also noted that data-center revenues were cited in the recent budget presentation and argued the county can use those revenues to fund housing and nonprofit needs while providing property-tax relief to homeowners.

Jessica Huff, a long-time volunteer who detailed local ice-sports participation, said the impending closure or mismanagement of the ION facility would displace nearly a thousand rostered hockey players and many skaters and urged the county to consider modifying projects in the Capital Improvement Program — including the Western Loudoun Recreation Center and another indoor sports facility — to accommodate ice. Huff suggested county-owned land such as Bolen Park as a possible municipal site.

Why it matters: Speakers linked specific recreation needs to quality-of-life and economic spillovers and urged supervisors to consider using local revenues to meet multiple county priorities.

What was not decided: Public comment only; the board took no action at the meeting.