Dundee Ice Arena’s board of directors has insisted the rink is financially viable ahead of a private council meeting to discuss its future.
The 2,300-seat arena is owned by the local authority but an arms-length trust with charitable status is in charge of the day-to-day running.
It receives an annual management fee of more than £250,000 from Dundee taxpayers.
The Courier revealed last week that trust officials failed to file accounts with Companies House and the Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator (OSCR) before the December 31 deadline.
It then emerged that politicians are holding crunch talks today and could be ready to write off a debt in excess of £50,000.
Gary Clark, one of 15 directors who run the rink, said: “There is a long-term future for the ice arena. The board is fully committed to ensuring it continues to serve Dundee for many years to come.
“We have had a downturn in general skating numbers recently, which led to a delay in getting accounts filed. Any downturn is a concern, but it’s not critical to the business.”
The board contacted Companies House and made a ‘Promise to File’, but the threat of financial penalties and legal action looms large.
A spokeswoman for Companies House said: “A ‘Promise to File’ simply means they have made a promise to file the outstanding documents as soon as possible If they now fail to do as promised, prosecution action will commence for failure to file statutory documents.”
Mr Clark, who also runs the Hockey For All programme at the ice arena, added: “Obviously, we have to ensure the accounts submitted show that the business is a going concern. They will be submitted when the auditor is satisfied.”
Dave Sweetin, a concerned fan of ice hockey team Dundee CCS Stars, set up an online petition which has attracted more than 1,000 signatures.
A Facebook page entitled Save Dundee Ice Arena also sprung up last week and now has hundreds of supporters.
Lawrie Hill, a drummer at the Dundee CCS Stars games, said: “We decided to start the Facebook page to simply show how much Dundee Ice Arena is loved by the citizens of Dundee.
“Although nothing is fact that it will be closed, we felt that we had to set up something suitable for the people of Dundee and others to voice their opinions and show their support on the matter.
“Dundee has already lost an ice arena in years gone past and when the new ice arena opened there was such a buzz around the city of Dundee.
“People aged from three right up to 90 use the ice arena now for ice hockey, public skating, figure skating, curling.
“We want to show how much this place is loved and how damaging it would be to the people of Dundee should this magnificent facility close.”
Mr Clark congratulated fans for their efforts. He said: “It’s fantastic that the petition and the Facebook page have been set up. It shows the amazing strength of feeling about the arena.
“However, Dundee Ice Arena does not need to be saved and if it did, the board would be the best people to do this.”
Ice hockey fans heading to the packed Dundee CCS Stars fixture against Fife Flyers at the arena last night expressed their support for the venue.
Glyn Ednie, from Kirkcaldy, said: “We visit the matches regularly and, although we support the Flyers, when things like this happen the ice hockey family come together to support it.”
Lesley Davie, from Broughty Ferry, said: “We need it here and not just for the ice hockey there are also things like figure-skating for the wee ones. I’m pleased its future is secure.”
Sidney Taylor, from Dundee, said: “There would be hell to pay if they closed it.”
Dundee Ice Arena is on the agenda at a public meeting of the Policy and Resources Committee in the City Chambers at 6pm tonight but councillors are expected to discuss the future of the rink in private.