Arena study in the works for summer

By Lauren Radomski (Contact) | The Daily Journal

Published Friday, May 2, 2008

City staff and community members looking into a new ice arena say they’re hoping to get a feasibility study off the ground this summer.

At a meeting of the Finance, Personnel and Development Committee Thursday, City Engineer Dan Edwards said the planning group decided on the architectural firm ATS&R and Bonestroo, an engineering firm, to conduct the study. Representatives from the Fergus Falls Hockey Association and Skating Club are among those providing input on the project.

While a middle school location was once under consideration, that site has long been ruled out.

“Everything we’re looking at now is directed solely at the high school site,” Edwards said.

The cost of the study, Edwards said, would be about $31,500. However, that does not include the cost of a topography study and possible soil borings, actions that were not taken as part of the school district’s feasibility study. In all, the combined studies could cost as much as $50,000.

What planners get in return, Edwards said, is a detailed site plan that describes, for example, how the ice arena could connect to parts of the high school.

“We’re going to the point where (we’d) actually know it (would) work,” he said, explaining that the study will show more than simply whether or not the arena would fit a designated space. “We need to go to this detail to get the specific cost estimate.”

The cost of the studies would be covered by the city, Edwards said, with the cost of the feasibility study credited to the project if the arena moves forward. If, after the study, the arena does not proceed, all of the partners would chip in to cover the $31,500 fee.

If the collaboration with ATS&R and Bonestroo is approved by the city council on Monday, Fergus planners will meet with both partners at the end of May to discuss the features they’d like to see in a new arena.