Sources: Wang among bidders for bankrupt rink facility

The new operator of a bankrupt ice-skating facility inside Nassau County's Eisenhower Park is expected to be chosen as early as Monday from three bidders, including New York Islanders owner Charles Wang, sources said Friday.

Owners of Twin Rinks Ice Center, which has a 30-year-licensing agreement with the county, filed for bankruptcy in June. An auction to sell their assets, including the county license, was held on Wednesday.

Wang, whose representatives didn't return a request for comment late Friday, is competing with a group led by Syosset developer Ed Blumenfeld and with SoNo Ice House, which runs a Connecticut rink and junior league hockey team.

A source with knowledge of the proceedings said that Wang bid $8 million in upfront cash while Blumenfeld's group bid $9 million in installments. The Connecticut firm's bid wasn't known, but it was lower than the other two, the source said.

"We know what we're doing," Blumenfeld said Friday when asked why he believed his bid for the East Meadow facility would be chosen. "We would enhance the value of it."

The privately funded Twin Rinks, which broke ground in 2013, was initially slated to cost $15 million, but bankruptcy filings show that the price escalated to $52 million. The facility was "unable to generate sufficient cash to pay its creditors on a timely basis," filings show.

Twin Rinks owners have said they owe $4.6 million to their 20 largest creditors. The 165,000-square-foot facility features two NHL-sized ice rinks.

SEE PHOTOSThe ups and downs of Charles Wang

Separate from Wang's Twin Rinks bid, the Islanders have agreed to spend $5.1 million to build a new practice facility at the county's Cantiague Park.

With Robert Brodsky

By Paul LaRocco

paul.larocco@newsday.com@paullarocco

Paul LaRocco is a reporter on the investigations desk. Since starting at Newsday in late 2010, he has also covered Nassau and Suffolk county politics and government and the Town of Oyster Bay.