Courtesy Boulder Daily Camera

(April 6, 2009) The Broomfield Event Center laid off at least five employees Tuesday, including the Rocky Mountain Rage's radio announcer, ice manager and Zamboni driver and members of its ticket office.

Gene Felling, the arena's general manager, confirmed "several" employees were let go, but declined to discuss details.

"We don't normally talk about personnel moves," Felling said.

Felling said the recession and the elimination of the Rocky Mountain Rage from the Central Hockey League playoffs on March 26 were factors in the decision.

"It's just the economy and the season is winding down," Felling said.

Among those let go was Brian Clark, the director of hockey broadcasting. Clark was the announcer for the Rage on its radio and Internet broadcasts for three years.

Clark said the downsizing wasn't a shock. To save money, Rage management stopped buying airtime on its radio broadcaster, ESPN 1600 AM, in February. The team paid the station to carry games, Clark said.

Clark was philosophical about being let go.

"After 10 years of long bus rides and no weekends from October to April, it may be time to do something other than chase that damn puck around while yammering away to myself," he said.

Employees were paid for unused vacation time but given no other severance, Clark said.

The layoffs come as Broomfield is looking for new management for the event center. Broomfield Sports and Entertainment, which has run the venue since it opened in 2006, announced on Jan. 13 it wanted out of its contract to manage the city-owned arena.

The city wasn't informed of the layoffs, Deputy City and County Manager Charles Ozaki said. He surmised the decision was linked to the end of the Rage's season and the upcoming offseason for the Colorado 14ers, the NBA Development League team that plays at the arena.

"Their program is seasonal. I guess you'd expect things would vary over the year depending on activity," he said.

The search for new management continues. The city is searching for a national or regional venue operator that can use its size to book more shows at the center. The deadline for bids is April 24.

The city has not yet received any bids, Ozaki said.

"We continue to get positive expressions of interest, but we'll wait and see until proposals come in later this month. We don't expect to see any until closer to April 24," he said.