Arena planning moving along
Published 12:00 am Thursday, April 5, 2001
The city of Austin is working on two arena projects: One is the renovation of Riverside Arena and the other is the proposal for a second sheet of ice within the city limits.
Thursday, April 05, 2001
The city of Austin is working on two arena projects: One is the renovation of Riverside Arena and the other is the proposal for a second sheet of ice within the city limits.
"I’d like to keep it moving along," Mayor Bonnie Rietz said Wednesday of the arena project. The city took over the project after the Mower County Board of Commissioners voted March 6 to abandon the project.
During the meeting, Rietz, department heads and members of the City Council’s park and recreation subcommittee made some major decisions in the planning of a second sheet of ice.
Park and recreation committee chairwoman Gloria Nordin said her goals for the arena are specific:
– Funding sources that are secured for the project.
– An agreement between those present that the city will only build what they can afford.
– A hope the city will not have to raise taxes to pay for the two projects.
The scope of the proposed project is threefold. The city intends to build a second sheet of ice, with minimal seating. It will be considered a practice facility. Riverside Arena will be renovated in order that it may remain the major venue. Finally, the layout of the new arena will include expansion capabilities, so an activities center, where additional sports can be played, can be added in the future.
The new arena would contain seating for about 200 people, in bleachers that could be removed from the site whenever necessary; a small concession stand; and restrooms and locker rooms.
"It’s a little larger than a bare-bones ice sheet, but not much," City Administrator Pat McGarvey said.
The total cost of the projects the city is proposing is estimated at $4.28 million. This total assumes the city will spend no money on acquiring a site for the second sheet of ice, the infrastructure to accommodate the new building, McGarvey said. If a location does not contain appropriate parking or available utilities, the $4.28 million budget will be short.
McGarvey, in conjunction with Denny Maschka, director of park, recreation and forestry, and Jon Erichson, city engineer and director of public works, submitted a packet of information to those present that included budget information and a sketch of the proposed arena.
The new venue will be a practice arena with limited seating and a proposed square footage of 325,000. Both Michelle Arjes, president of the Riverside Figure Skating Club, and Larry Lyons, board member of the Austin Youth Hockey Association, said the proposed building would meet their needs.
The park, recreation and forestry committee, with input from McGarvey, Rietz, Erichson and other council members, voted to pursue four locations for the new practice arena. They are: the west side of Riverland Community College, the east side of Riverland, the northeast corner of the Mower County Fairgrounds and a site along Seventh Street NW where Hormel Foods Corp. currently parks its trucks.
Only with a secured location can further talks about the floor plan and materials used for the new arena be discussed.
"If the site is still up in the air, we can’t get very precise on what would support the building on a given location," McGarvey said.
Riverland Community College President Gary Rhodes approves of a collaboration between the city and Riverland in pursuing the project, according to a letter presented during the meeting. In the letter, however, Rhodes said the building of the arena on campus would depend upon the proposed design and how it fit with other buildings on campus and on the number of trees the construction would upset. The collaboration would be made between the two entities with the understanding Riverland would not be responsible for upkeep on the property or the costs of running it, unless the project were to expand to include other uses. If an activities center were added to the arena in the future, Riverland may participate in the costs of that additional building.
Rietz said discussions with Mower County Commissioner Dave Hillier led her to believe the Mower County Fair Board would only be interested in bringing the arena to the fairgrounds if it remained near the other buildings in the northeast.
After the meeting, Lyons said Hormel would "consider discussing" a nearby alternative for parking the trucks, if the city wanted to pursue that site for the arena.
If approved and constructed on the schedule the city is looking at, both arenas would be completed in the fall of 2002.
Members of the council and Rietz are scheduled to meet with members of the county board next Wednesday in a regular monthly meeting. During that meeting, the city will ask the county to state what amount of money they are willing to contribute to the arena projects. After that meeting and a decision on the site for the new arena, budgeting will be clearer and more defined.
"The county board is willing to work with us on it," Rietz said.
"I don’t want to see a three-year thing drawn out," councilman and committee member Pete Christopherson said, noting the length of the county’s discussions regarding the project. With that the group wholeheartedly agreed and adjourned the meeting.
Call Kevira Mertha at 434-2233 or e-mail her at newsroom@austindailyherald.com.