Prodded by a passionate hockey and skating community, including athletes and families, the Northfield City Council is looking closely at the potential to build a new ice arena, this time hearing proposed designs from veteran sports venue architect Tom Betti of Minneapolis-based JLG Architects.
After two months of background work, and guided by meetings with city staff and the Northfield Hockey Association, Betti produced two proposals, with the larger and more expensive option coming with a price tag of over $28 million.
That option, which would cover 52,000 square feet, and a more compact alternative, which comes in at 45,000 square feet and costs about $21 million, would both include amenities, such as a concession booth, conference and meeting rooms and office space.
The proposed arena would replace an aging and cramped facility, which the city and its partners have agreed needs replacing. However, the proposed arena has a bigger price tag than the one that failed to pass muster with voters in 2018, even though it’s notably smaller.
The arena has been proposed, as the council is advancing major street reconstruction projects that would substantially increase the city’s debt and residential property taxes. If all proposed projects are ultimately approved, city debt could more than double in the next five years.
Councilor Davin Sokup once again expressed strong concern about the project’s cost, given the trendline of the levy. Sokup said that, while he certainly understands why a new ice arena is so strongly supported by many, his first priority is to keep the cost of housing affordable.
“If this is the only levy increase we’re thinking about for this year, that would be an entirely different conversation,” Sokup said. “The levy increase we’re looking at in the city and the school district is really, really, really concerning to me.”
Both options would provide seating for 500, coupled with ample parking. Either design would fit comfortably in a space behind the current Arby’s location in southwest Northfield, several blocks up Highway 3 from the current ice arena.
Projections shown to the council by City Engineer David Bennett show that, on a home valued at $350,000, residents of Dundas and Northfield would both pay $14 more per month or $166 per year in additional taxes annually for the next two decades to fund the project.
Given that the new site will be so close to Dundas, despite some initial interest in building a new arena by the high school, the expectation is that Dundas will be a full financial partner, though the city has not formally committed to that role yet.
The city has found potential buyers for the current arena, which could provide over $1.2 million in revenue. The potential buyers have expressed interest in redeveloping the site to serve as a private recreation facility. Notably, the city will retain the riverfront portion of the property for park land.
As in the past, several councilors expressed concerns about the project’s significant price tag and pushed staff hard to look for other potential sources of revenue. Councilor Kathleen Holmes asked Martig what sources of private revenue might be available to support the project.
In order to nail down how much private funding may be available, nail down that private funding and maximize a potential naming rights deal, Martig said the city and NHA could partner with a private fundraising consultant.
While Northfield Public Schools has committed to providing some additional funding for the new rink through a lease levy, the amount of support NPS can provide is limited. However, the district has been a strong supporter of the proposed arena, with Martig saying that Superintendent Matt Hillmann views the current situation as an “albatross.”
The current arena has a variety of space and safety issues — with locker rooms that are too small, a variety of mechanical issues, a leaky roof and lack of handicapped accessible entrances. It is not only undesirable but could soon be unusable without huge improvements.
Supporters of the new arena emphasized that, though a new facility might be expensive, a lack of public ice in Northfield could be costlier, leading to an exodus of outstanding students and teachers and loss of state funding for the district under the per-pupil formula.
In 2024, both the boys and girls Northfield High School hockey teams reached the state tournament, indicating the success and stature of the community’s hockey program.
Chris Kennelly of the Northfield Hockey Association warned that, of the 165 respondents the NHA surveyed, 107 would look at leaving Northfield if the hockey program folds up, due to lack of available public ice, potentially costing Northfield Public Schools more than $1 million annually.
Kennelly dismissed proposals to merely fix up the current ice arena, arguing that to do so would be to “put good money after bad” and still leave Northfield with an arena that is outdated, uncompetitive and inadequate.
“There’s an opportunity cost with doing nothing,” Kennelly said. “We can’t continue to kick the can down the road — now is the time to take action.”
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