Construction of a new Grand Forks arena for youth hockey is expected to begin in August. However, the Park District isn't ready to give the complete project a green light.
Those are the highlights from Tuesday's Grand Forks Park Board meeting, where commissioners voted to start construction on the arena, located near Choice Health & Fitness on the south end.
The reason for moving forward is to take advantage of a $1.5 million bid for the steel shell of the building. The bid was $500,000 under the expected amount. So, even though more money is needed to complete the project, the commissioners opted to move forward.
"It's looking good now, but we still have quite a bit to get done," said Commissioner Greg LaDouceur.
"The money we have raised is not enough to build the Taj Mahal we want out there. But it's enough to build the main rink."
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The shell project will include building one of the two rinks, named The Judd for Judd Sondreal, whose family donated to the project.
It's likely that the second rink won't be ready when the arena opens, said Bill Palmiscno, Park District executive director.
The project received a boost in June when Icon Architectural Group paid $1 million for the naming rights to the main arena. That $1 million was matched by the Grand Forks Blue Line Club, in addition to the $2.5 million it had earlier pledged for the project.
Most of the building's naming rights have been awarded. Other naming rights available are $100,000 for the lobby, $100,000 for the Zamboni and $75,000 for the sports shop.
Estimates are that the arena won't open until the fall of 2014, at the earliest.
The entire construction cost is estimated at $8.5 million. With interest over 20 years, the cost will be $12.7 million.
The Park District is paying $4.68 million over a 20-year span for the project. The money will come out of its capital and betterment fund, not from additional taxes.
Call Bakken at (701) 780-1125; (800) 477-6572, ext. 1125; or send email to rbakken@gfherald.com .
