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Final arena proposal: $6.7 million
Project presented to city council, board of education
Published Tuesday, November 18, 2008
Fergus Falls aldermen got their first glimpse Monday of what a $6.7 million community ice arena could look like.
A new ice arena was the subject of a feasibility study that wrapped up just this month. Beginning in May, a group of city staff, school district officials, community members and council members partnered with architectural firm ATS&R Inc. and Bonestroo, a Twin Cities-based engineering and planning firm, to detail a new and improved facility.
“We’ve had to make some hard decisions, but it’s been a great group to work with,” said ATS&R architect Paul Snyder, speaking to city council and school board members at a joint meeting Monday.
The proposed ice arena would replace the two southerly wings of the current high school, which will no longer house students following the 2009-2010 school year. The facility would include two NHL-regulation-size rinks — one main, one practice — with refrigerated, concrete slabs.
According to the study’s final report, the arena would also house locker rooms for varsity, junior varsity and youth players; a figure skating room; bleachers seating 1,100 along the main rink and 250 on the practice side; second-floor heated observation areas; a concession stand and storage room; and a front lobby with administrative office space.
The arena’s second floor would connect to the high school’s main level, with current classrooms available for meeting rooms, storage and offices. The school’s current media center could be used to house the city’s Parks, Recreation and Forestry Department, now located in a trailer on South Peck Street.
The advantage of the high school site, planners say, is that the arena would benefit from the same industrial chiller used to cool Kennedy Secondary School and the repurposed high school. The school district would pay for the refrigeration system’s capital expenses, while the city would be responsible for electricity charges and operating costs.
Utilizing the city-owned refrigeration system would save the project around $630,000 from the next lowest cost option, said Gary Kristofitz of Bonestroo.
Cost estimates based on a similar project in southwest Fargo and adjusted for inflation put the total price tag at nearly $7 million.
“That number has been up and down during the course of this process, but that’s the project’s cost of construction in March 2010,” Snyder said, referring to the proposed bid date.
Construction at the site could not begin until parts of the high school are cleared and demolished — meaning no sooner than August 2010. A project of this size typically takes about 12 months, Kristofitz said.
A lot will need to happen before council members are ready to make a decision on the project. A next step, said City Engineer Dan Edwards, is for Rick Terway of Parks, Recreation and Forestry to determine how much it would cost to rehabilitate the existing arena.
There’s also the question of funding. Members of the Fergus Falls Youth Hockey Association and Fergus Falls Figure Skating Association have said they could raise $2 million to $2.5 million for a new facility, Edwards said, but can’t guarantee that much support for upgrades at the current site.
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Comments
The Daily Journal is happy to host community conversations about news and life in Fergus Falls and the surrounding area. As hosts, we expect guests will show respect for each other. That means we don't threaten or defame each other, and we keep conversations free of personal attacks. Witty is great. Abusive is not. If you think a post violates these standards, don't escalate the situation. Instead, flag the comment to alert us. We'll take action if necessary. It's not hard. This should be a place where people want to read and contribute -- a place for spirited exchanges of opinion. So those who persist with racist, defamatory or abusive postings risk losing the privilege to post at all.Posted by doctipster (anonymous) on November 18, 2008 at 12:05 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Well my guess is that the Fergus Falls hockey association and skating association better get out and sell a bunch of candy bars and other fundraising. I know the people of this community are pretty fed up with the school district and city governments poor judgement in spending habits.
And lets not forget how many of our children get to go to the current ice arena and "Free skate" in what is supposed to be (Is it just me or City owned and operated) I was told my kids couldn't because there was this going on or practice, or a game in a couple of days. Yep, let the Hockey association pay for it all. Until you build something that has free skate for the community... Don't come to the community asking for money.... I'll donate money out of my own pocket for articles in the paper before i ever give money to that...
City council, please remember that if they want the community to fund it, they better be sure that the community can use it. Because the current one, the common citizen can't use and that is funded by whom??????
Posted by luvmyboys (anonymous) on November 18, 2008 at 12:08 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Yay! I don't even have children who play hockey, but I still say YAY! With hockey being such a popular sport in this state and surrounding areas, this would be a massive draw for Fergus Falls. This arena would get tons of usage!! I say GO FOR IT!
Posted by Mel (anonymous) on November 18, 2008 at 12:17 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Maybe Fergus could get some bail out money from the feds. and waste that.
Posted by hometown (anonymous) on November 18, 2008 at 12:17 p.m. (Suggest removal)
As long as the tax payers are not footing the bill I have no problem with this.
If the taxpayers have to pay one cent into this then I would say NO!
The city can't even afford to pay for a decent school let alone, teachers, books and supplies.
Posted by hometown (anonymous) on November 18, 2008 at 12:19 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Oh Yeah,
and contrarary to popular belief, education IS more important then HOCKEY.
Posted by BeaverFan (anonymous) on November 18, 2008 at 12:49 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Massive draw....1100 seats? Ummm....don't think too big now. You don't want FF to have a world class facility...just something big enough to be insufficient. Business as usual I guess. Sad.
One more thing. The NHL will eventually go to olympic sized ice to make up for lack of scoring in a dying league. I shouldn't have had to post this...who's buiding this thing? Anyone with ANY hockey knowledge?
Go BSU!
Posted by takemyradio (anonymous) on November 18, 2008 at 12:58 p.m. (Suggest removal)
It looks pretty crappy. But I agree, if the Hockey Association somehow has enough money to fund this, go for it! Whatever.
Posted by luvmyboys (anonymous) on November 18, 2008 at 1 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Yeah, it's 1100 MORE people than are coming now... for Fergus Falls, that's massive. It'll be hard enough to get THIS thing up and running with all the people who are so AGAINST Fergus Falls growing, but bitch and WHINE because it's such a stagnant town now. Go figure. And as far as having decent teachers? You are DEAD wrong. The teachers in Fergus Falls are incredible. You will be hard pressed to find teachers as dedicated as the one's who teach our children.
Posted by robbie (anonymous) on November 18, 2008 at 1:03 p.m. (Suggest removal)
How can we build a 7 million dollar project on a building that was not worth repairing before the vote?
To all the folks that worked on this a big thank you for your time and effort-Why did you all hire a firm from the Cities for engineering and planning help?
Posted by Apples (anonymous) on November 18, 2008 at 1:18 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Soooo a new arena is better than fixing the water that is leaking through the furnace room and out?
Didn't they need a new furnance too? or is the NEW furnance and everything going to be brought in too while they are tearing off parts of the school?
I hope they all wear masks because of the asbestoes.
Asbestoes dust floating all through the air...
So the other sports do not gain anything?
Who voted for this?
Posted by hometown (anonymous) on November 18, 2008 at 1:22 p.m. (Suggest removal)
I never said that the teacher's were bad, as a matter of fact I think the educators there are excellent, the problem is paying them and being able to keep them around. Further, how bout dealing with the stagnant business problem with real solutions like attracting business and families and jobs before you go with this stupid plan. It's just like FERGUS FALLS to find money for everything else but what needs to be fixed. Ridiculous!
Posted by AmyO (anonymous) on November 18, 2008 at 1:28 p.m. (Suggest removal)
doctipster:
Check out the most current arena schedule here...
http://www.ci.fergus-falls.mn.us/story.p...
Every Saturday and Sunday you will find numerous listings for "Open Hockey" and "Open Public." Take a wild guess what goes on at the arena during those times?
Posted by Clara (anonymous) on November 18, 2008 at 1:33 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Enough studies, already. Build the dang thing! Fergus Falls needs this arena a lot more than it needs a goofy water park. This hockey arena should have been built 10 years ago. Pull together and find a way to pay for it; you won't be sorry.
Posted by hometown (anonymous) on November 18, 2008 at 2:30 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Again, Let's build build a milti million dollar hockey rink and ignore the real problems FERGUS FALLS has because we all know that if you bury your head in the sand long enough the problems will just go away.
Posted by jafo (anonymous) on November 18, 2008 at 2:32 p.m. (Suggest removal)
I like it. I like that it's close to the school and the gym. It makes good use of the remaining buildings and parking on the old highschool site. There won't be any water/foundation problems with the ice arena as there won't be a basement under the ice sheets. ;-) The problems with the two older buildings slated for demolition are well-documented... that's a done deal, I don't think we need to waste time on that. All in all, it would be a nice finishing touch for the school complex when completed.
Posted by notsocommonsense (anonymous) on November 18, 2008 at 2:44 p.m. (Suggest removal)
A big draw??? We need a 7 million dollar arena to host the likes of Little Falls, Wadena....
Posted by takemyradio (anonymous) on November 18, 2008 at 2:45 p.m. (Suggest removal)
We may need a new arena, but $6.7 million is a heckuva lot of money, and there are most definitely better things FF could do with that amount.
I'm just really curious as to where exactly the money is coming from. Do the folks providing this money know they're doing so, and is the majority of this group OK with it being spent on this as opposed to other projects???
Posted by FFWoman (anonymous) on November 18, 2008 at 3:21 p.m. (Suggest removal)
I can understand the financial benefit to Fergus Falls from the hockey program but does that mean that all other recreational facilities lose out because they aren't bringing money into the community? We can't seem to find enough money to improve Pebble Lake Beach to it's former condition (much less improve the grounds)or fund full time life guards so families have a free, safe place to swim and picnic but we can find $6.7 million to fund a hockey area (which by the way only has a "room" for the figure skaters). I agree with the comment above that unless a day a week is set aside for public skating, not including hockey, it's not really a community skating rink.
Posted by hunting (anonymous) on November 18, 2008 at 3:39 p.m. (Suggest removal)
I think that the town is in need of new rink,
Posted by hunting (anonymous) on November 18, 2008 at 3:53 p.m. (Suggest removal)
I have been born and raised in Fergus Falls. It is a great comunity that does not suport a thing. As a past college student their is not reason for a kid to come back to this town. As well as job obertunity. So why would any of the elder want to fork out any money to help a comunity grow all they wory about is their retierment house and keeping the town low profile. I think that its a joke You have a lot of people that worked hard to help a comunity grow in a NEW School system, that is very much in need. To bad the town could not get to gether and do things the right way insted of the cheap way for once. My oponion do it but do it the right way. I think its ashame that the town is so cheap they cant even go buil a new high school, Fergus Falls is killing it self let the town grow.
Posted by Conrad (anonymous) on November 18, 2008 at 4:06 p.m. (Suggest removal)
AmyO - thanks for pointing out the availability of arena schedule to doctipster. My guess is this person never took the time to research this for her children as she/he was too busy complaining about what the City of FF is not doing for them. Incidentally doctipster, Sunday "Free Skate" is very well attended by the public but Saturdays are typcially not. If your children are interested in skating maybe you should sign them up for hockey/figure skating - It's a great family sport!
What people like doctipster have to realize is that the the Ice Area benefits alot more than just the so called select few involved in the hockey/figure skating programs. Local Hotels, Restaurants, Grocery stores, Boxed Stores and even the Mall benefit from all the families that come to town on the wkends especially during the 5 plus hockey tournaments that are held over 5 wkends during the winter months. I wonder what other event(s) that Fergus has that generates this kind of volume and/or revenue.
Whether you are a hockey fan or not, we need to stop be so negative and start creating excitement within our community. Our "this better not cost me attitude" is killing the town. We need things like the School and an Ice Arena to attract young families to town. Young families tend to spend more money with all the activities that they are involved in. However, I would have to guess that there has been a lot more families moving out of FF than those that are moving in. Large part due to the lack of amenities we have. Let's start being progressive as a community and change this mentality!
Posted by apinion (anonymous) on November 18, 2008 at 4:25 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Ah the truth finally comes out!!! The reason the high school could not be renovated is because then there would not have been room for the hockey rink!!! Go figure!
Posted by jimmyjohn986 (anonymous) on November 18, 2008 at 4:26 p.m. (Suggest removal)
hometown-
I hope you are joking about going to college....by the show of your choice of grammar, it is hard to believe you made it thru heiks skool
Posted by jimmyjohn986 (anonymous) on November 18, 2008 at 4:28 p.m. (Suggest removal)
sorry hometown- I was directing that comment towards hunting, I obviously did not make it through college either.
Posted by metasonics (anonymous) on November 18, 2008 at 4:34 p.m. (Suggest removal)
looks nice but, whats wrong with setting up arenas in the exhibit buildings at the fairgrounds?
seems to be that worked pretty good, and was a lot cheaper.
I'm kind of offended that anyone would suggest spending 7 million on ice in MN is reasonable but, spending far less to fix the cities water problems for entire neighborhoods who are paying for water but not getting usable amounts. is not.
the school could have easily been fixed up too.
more and more I understand why the French chopped off Marie Antoinette s head.
Jamie Cooper
Posted by metasonics (anonymous) on November 18, 2008 at 4:37 p.m. (Suggest removal)
I guess there real question is, what are you going to do about it?
how long will you let your elected bully you?
this is your money at work.
Posted by jimmyjohn986 (anonymous) on November 18, 2008 at 4:41 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Metasonics,
what is the problem with the water in the neighborhoods you speak of...?
Posted by metasonics (anonymous) on November 18, 2008 at 4:53 p.m. (Suggest removal)
jimmyjohn986. have you not heard about the hilltop neighborhood before?
like I said through the entire election season.
these families are paying their bills yet cannot take a decent shower if their neighbor flushes a toilet.
the cities suggestion that they need high pressure pumps is obscene.
what good are pumps if there isn't enough water reaching them?
who want to turn all the water in their home into a pressure washer?
Jamie Cooper
Posted by watermelon (anonymous) on November 18, 2008 at 4:57 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Looks like Fergus Falls has fallen into the trap believing if you build large sports arenas with limited usability, it will somehow benefit the community? How about spending that money on a school? Infrastructure? And high school hockey besides? Not everyone is a fan of hockey....especially at that level. Revamp the facility out at the fairgrounds as metasonics suggested. I don't see how a hockey arena will "revive" the city and bring more people here? How about you "revive" the downtown stretch and get more specialty shops and restaurants? Make this city a real destination, instead of some place with a sparkly new event center or some idiocy like a high school sports complex.
If that is the way we are headed, perhaps we need to build a theatre for the performing arts for plays and musical performances or an art gallery? Going to high school many years ago, I remember that as far as extracurricular spending was concerned, let's just say that the liberal arts were neglected and all the spending and focus was on the sports departments. Everything else falls to the wayside. Where sports are concerned, you're using muscle...not brains.
And as far as being progressive? My foot....expensive sports arenas are NOT the way to move forward. Taxpayers in Hennepin county are already being forced to pay extra sales tax for a new twins stadium, without even having a referendum. A stadium that can only be used for baseball, and only on pleasant days. There is NO ROOF. And that's for a professional team. I suppose the fergus high school hockey team can't threaten to relocate if they don't get such a facility. Those in charge of coming up with such projects don't think before they act. Civic irresponsibility is what they call it.
Don't worry guys...they'll find some way to make you all (taxpayers) pay for it under the radar. Whether it be by passing without referendum or slipping it into the property taxes. You will most certainly pay.
Posted by Brekin (anonymous) on November 18, 2008 at 5:42 p.m. (Suggest removal)
You people are an embarrassment! The comments of some of you show why Fergus Falls will always be a second rate (or third rate) town while similar sized towns like Alexandria thrive and are progressive. God forbid you have have something NICE in your town. Just hold onto your wallets tightly till you pass away leaving this floundering city to die with you. I grew up nearby picturing myself living in Fergus when I got older and to see how it has regressed in the last 20 years is pitifull.
Posted by junior (anonymous) on November 18, 2008 at 6:16 p.m. (Suggest removal)
$6.7 Million divided by 13,000 people is only $515 per person! I'd send Fergus a check for that to build the arena and I don't even live there anymore. The hockey and figure skating programs help to bring tourist dollars into the community. With a higher caliber facility, you could attract some regional tournaments once again. The Fairgrounds Arena has been retrofit so many times now, it is amazing it is even still functional. There's probably enough energy savings from the new facility to pay part of the bill. How 'bout a little support here people
Posted by metasonics (anonymous) on November 18, 2008 at 7:03 p.m. (Suggest removal)
I personally feel making residents pay for water they don't get is a bit more embarrassing than not supporting a building project that our community doesn't have the funds to support.
only $515 per person adds up pretty quick when you have more than one person in your household.
some of us live on roughly that amount a month with the low wage jobs here.
if you would like to flip the bill, come on down, otherwise, I suggest you worry about your own community.
Posted by dehtb (anonymous) on November 18, 2008 at 7:09 p.m. (Suggest removal)
First of all maybe we do not have all the facts here, I am going to correct a few of you...
As far as this not being a draw to the communtiy how many other sports bring people to the community to stay for more than two hours? HMMMMM Hockey is one that has them staying 2-3days!!! in hotels eating at our restaurants, shopping in our stores (which is more than I can say about some people in Fergus) but why would we want people to do that? To bring revenue to our town? To build the facilitys you all want, a beach, arts facility, etc all these things cost money. If you want people to move here they need a reason and just to make minimum wage taking care of the elderly is not going to cut it, you need places for young people to go and make people want to grow their families here and spend money here!! But instead lets close our wallets and our minds and simply complain on the DJ website about it. I bet all of you complainers do not volunteer for the failing summerfest, volunteer for pto to support our schools, go to the beach we do have or utilize the Arena we do have instead you think you have the right to complain instead?
As far as ice time goes there is plenty but it is a shared facility that the Hockey association is responsible for the bulk of paying for! Yet the things that help pay for the arena like tournaments and games are supposed to stop so you can go skating? Go on the open public times and maybe if the arena was closer to the kids they could go at better times and there would be more open times, that is one thing they do want to see! But you are shooting down a sports association for the wrong reason-Baseball, wrestling basketball, football all do not have the operating costs that this sport does and to do that in the facility it is in only makes the cost higher so more kids do not have the ability to try it, whether it be open skating, figure skating or hockey!
So instead of complaining about making Fergus Grow help it! There are alot of things I do not utilize that I support for the sake of my community. ANd I give credit to the hockey association for utilizing a building that would other wise be left empty like many others in this town. AS far as layoffs go? How do you rebuild that? You have a community that a buisness would want to come to and stay in with ammenities so they can have a decent staff and stay in buisness too!! It all goes hand in hand. I commnend the hockey association for wanting to do this, we have to start somewhere! So before you complain be willing to do something otherwise you are nothing but hot air!
Posted by FungusAmugus (anonymous) on November 18, 2008 at 8:21 p.m. (Suggest removal)
What happend to the private funding that this project was supposed to have?
I believe earlier the word was that a group from the private sector (businesses or individuals) were to pay for the whole thing? Have they backed out or what's going on!
I think that information should be offered FIRST when running a story like this!
Posted by yepUbetchya (anonymous) on November 18, 2008 at 8:54 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Wasn't it about 4 years ago we had the option to have this done and connected to a new school, and with the options of a new wrestling room, swimming complex and state of the art science center, all in the school? Then we voted, and the majority of this district voted NO. granted, I voted YES, but that was then, before we were in a worldwide recession. recession, means tighten our belts, not piss our pants.
Wasn't it last year our city alderman set up a committee to research a swimming pool, that was altered to become a waterpark, which those selected few never even presented a report to the city. I do recall that swimming pool committee doing a mailing to the city residents asking a lot about a hockey arena and very little about a swimming pool. Gee, how ironic was that.
We cannot spend $250,000 on a swimming pool, but we are supposed to choke down $6.7 million on a skate complex because it might, might draw a few more tourists to town. Maybe before we jump on that bandwagon, we should travel up to Thief River Falls and ask them how their private funded complex does for tourism.
Wake up, we are in a recession, every dollar counts.
Posted by positivelyperham (anonymous) on November 18, 2008 at 10:03 p.m. (Suggest removal)
why not build the pool, swim in the summer and then let it freeze and skate on it in the winter lol. and then make a movie at it. i love hockey but a community needs to learn to walk before they can run. set some priorities and go from there. where is that dude in a thong when you need him.
Posted by rodentboy (anonymous) on November 19, 2008 at 12:15 a.m. (Suggest removal)
the only reason that this is in the works is because the hockey ass. wants it, and that is all matters. wouldn't a person first figure out the cost of fixing the one at the fair grounds than explore a new one?
Posted by hightag08 (anonymous) on November 19, 2008 at 8:12 a.m. (Suggest removal)
$515 per person, ASSuming that every one of those 13,000 people is a wage earning adult....
Posted by alpha (anonymous) on November 19, 2008 at 8:34 a.m. (Suggest removal)
I used to be in Figure Skating and we always had to put the hockey players first. We were LUCKY if we got to use the main arena for practice and luckier YET IF we got a locker room to use,let me point out we were never allowed to keep things in the sweaty feet smelling locker room because the whole place 'belonged' to the hockey association. I knew more than one skater whose parents would drive them to Fargo or Alexandria for lessons nad practice time since figure skating was more prioritized at those places.
We were tired of being pushed around by the hockey players and it's about time the community built a place that also had the figure skaters in mind. Have any of you whiners ever tried practicing for the spring skating show or a competition on the tiny little block of ice that is the satellite arena while at the same time imagining how it will go in a bigger arena? It's not easy. And to those of you who complain that there's never any open skate-there is,every weekend.If you go there during the week when there's hockey or skating practice of course they are going to tell you to go away if you're not in skating or hockey,you'll get in the way! What I don't get is there are rumors that the city is closing down the channing outdoor rink for good because it costs too much to staff it and keep it going during the season but yet they want to build a bigger indoor arena that is going to cost almost 10x more. They should have that kind of money laying around with how much they charge to rent those places-$100/day for the fairgrounds arena even if you just need it for an hour,$50 for the outdoor arenas and I think $25 to reserve a picnic shelter. If you ask me they outta give deals to people who don't need it for more than just an hour or two,$50-$100 is fine if you are going to use it from like 9-3 but if someone wants to use it for 60 min they still want the full $100-gimme a break people,that's a ripoff!!!
Posted by ottersnap (anonymous) on November 19, 2008 at 1:07 p.m. (Suggest removal)
The whole town of Fergus Falls is pathetic. You don't like change. I am so sick of hearing all of you complaining about positive things for our community! If you don't like change, then I suggest you move to a smaller community that will be the same for years to come.
Posted by ottersnap (anonymous) on November 19, 2008 at 10:38 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Nope. Pretty sure I meant what I said. Every time that something in Fergus is changed or updated there are people complaining. Bring in Target. Complaints. Bring in Applebee's. Complaints. Bring in Arby's. Complaints. Bring a movie set to the RTC. Complaints. Invest in our education and build new schools. Complaints. It's getting pathetic.
Posted by Conrad (anonymous) on November 20, 2008 at 9:54 a.m. (Suggest removal)
I concur with you ottersnap. Unfortuantely Mr_Lincoln is one of those many negative people that we have to deal with in our community. His condescending comments are typical of someone who is ignorant and one isn't open in change. Rather than continually complain, I suggest to you, Mr_ Lincoln, that you start getting more involved with the community. Incidentally, the proposed Community Ice Area isn't just for Hockey. Also, it should be noted that Fergus still remains one of the lowest taxed communities in the State, even after the school referendum. Hmm, and you wonder why this area has become such a hotbed for the retirement community.
Posted by marc (anonymous) on November 28, 2008 at 2:33 p.m. (Suggest removal)
To AmyO and Conrad - if you would check out the latest arena schedule Nov 6-Dec 4, you'd see that the public is only offered 9 open skate sessions, for a total of 14 hours. Only 4 1/2 of these hours are on the main rink, 9 1/2 are on the dismal satellite.
And a correction for AmyO who sarcastically responded to doctipster, "Every Saturday and Sunday you will find numerous listings for "Open Hockey" and "Open Public." Take a wild guess what goes on at the arena during those times?" Well, Open hockey is only open to youth registered in hockey, it is not open to the general public for liability reasons. Open public skate times are usually right after school, when the general public is working, or 7:30-9:00 on Sunday night, when most families are getting their kids in bed for a new school week. Still, 14 hours of open skate for a month is pretty slim. My child has been in both figure skating and hockey, and would like to skate more often, but there just isn't the open ice.
I am not against the new rink, I actually think it would be a huge asset and draw for FF athletics. However, I do think the FFHA should fund it, and not the taxpayers of FF. Education should be our priority. We need to get our priotities straight.
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