Ice Zone Resolves Foreclosure Case With PNC

YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio – Owners of The Ice Zone skating rink have negotiated a resolution with PNC Bank that would avoid foreclosure on the facility.

According to a judgment entry filed March 10 in United States District Court Northern District of Ohio, parties have entered into a forbearance and modification agreement that would allow the ice rink to continue operating.

“We’ve negotiated a two-year agreement with the bank,” says William Weimer, corporate counsel for B.J. Alan Co., whose president and CEO, Bruce Zoldan, is co-owner of the Ice Zone. “All is well and the Ice Zone moves forward.”

PNC filed a foreclosure complaint in January against the Ice Zone and its owners, Zoldan and Thomas Hutch Jr., alleging they were in default on a promissory note of more than $2.8 million.

U.S. District Judge Benita Y. Pearson ruled in favor of PNC Bank in this latest filing, and ordered the $2.8 million to be repaid or the foreclosure would go forth, while the building and a vacant lot nearby would be placed up for sheriff’s sale.

However, the judgment entry stipulates that PNC cannot execute these positions unless the Ice Zone, Zoldan and Hutch default on the terms of the new forbearance agreement.

Under the new agreement, PNC would add a 2% interest rate on the note in case of default. No other details were provided by the court documents.

According to the initial foreclosure complaint, PNC said the Ice Zone was in default on the balance of a $2,826,475 promissory note the bank issued in December 2009. PNC says the Ice Zone owed a balance of $1,793,815 in principal, accrued interest and late fees.

Zoldan is the co-owner of the Youngstown Phantoms Hockey Team, which practices at the Ice Zone and plays its games at the Covelli Centre in downtown Youngstown.

Hutch is the president of Aerolite Extrusion Co. in Youngstown.

In February 2013, Zoldan announced that the Ice Zone, an indoor skating rink at 360 McClurg Road in Boardman, would close that May. However, Zoldan was able to reopen the rink under a new business model. The Ice Zone opened in 1997, and features the only Olympic-size skating surface in the Mahoning Valley.

In a related case, Mahoning County Common Pleas Judge Maureen Sweeny dismissed a lawsuit that Zoldan filed against Hutch just one day after PNC filed its foreclosure complaint.

According to the complaint, Zoldan says he paid obligations of the Ice Zone totaling $1,365,814, and that Hutch owed him more than $800,000 in monetary and property equity.

The case was dismissed at Zoldan’s attorney’s request once an agreement was reached with the bank.

Copyright 2024 The Business Journal, Youngstown, Ohio.