| Anoka group revives ‘Thriller’ for Red Bull Flugtag crowd |
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The “Back for the First Time” team hauled their flying coffin in a full sized semi truck to reach Harriet Island for the Red Bull event. Submitted photo
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One of the more creative endeavors to hit Minnesota since the milk
carton boat race began some 39 years ago entertained, launched, flew
and ultimately floated as Red Bull brought its Flugtag event to Harriet
Island July 24.
| Blaine City Council responds favorably to curling facility plan |
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| Wednesday, 26 March 2008 | |
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by Tim Hennagir Life Editor Blaine City Council members have responded favorably to the idea of using city property near Fogerty Arena as a possible curling facility site. Ice Arena Manager Mark Clasen and Fogerty Arena Board of Directors members initially presented their proposal during the city council’s March 20 workshop. Clasen handed out a background summary that contained information about the sport, benefits of using land near Fogerty, capital costs and a map of site locations. Clasen said curling has world-wide appeal. It became a medal sport at the Winter Olympics in 2002. There are approximately 140 curling facilities nationwide. There are an estimated 50,000 curlers in the U.S. Only eight U.S. clubs have six rinks or more, and four of those rinks are located in Minnesota. The St. Paul Curling Club is the only curling facility in the Twin Cities, Clasen said. It has a capacity of 960 members but currently has more than 1,200 members. There are two other metro-area clubs that don’t have dedicated curling ice. Combined, those two clubs have more than 600 members curling on hockey ice. Fogerty representatives indicated the curling expansion would meet Internal Revenue Service non-profit regulations if a youth component was included on-site. Profits from the curling facility would be turned back to Fogerty Arena operations to help reduce hockey costs for local programs that use the facility. Creating a curling club Curling club membership would draw from the entire metro area, Fogerty representatives told the council, and would create new recreational opportunities for residents. In curling, a rink refers to one lane used by teams. A curling facility ice sheet usually has six rinks; each rink is approximately 15 feet wide by 146 feet long. If six Blaine rinks were built, its facility would qualify for nationals, Clasen said. Hockey rinks could be converted in the off-season for large tournaments. According to Clasen, a year-round club at the proposed curling facility in Blaine could potentially create a national training site for the fast-growing sport. Olympian offers support John Shuster, a member of the 2006 U.S. men’s Olympic curling team that captured a bronze medal in Torino, Italy, is consulting with Fogerty Arena representatives “There is an absolute need for a state-of-the-art facility,” Shuster said earlier this week in a telephone interview from his hometown of Chisholm, Minn. Shuster said he’s visited or competed at 100 or more curling facilities. “The demand for curling in the Twin Cities is large already. Ice time comes at a premium price,” he said. Fogerty Arena is a private, non-profit facility owned and operated by the hockey communities of Blaine and Spring Lake Park. Fogerty opened in 1982. Its board of directors is a nine- member volunteer group that oversees management and operation of the arena, which is located at 9250 Lincoln St. N.E. Four directors represent Blaine Youth Hockey and two represent Spring Lake Park Youth Hockey, one represents Blaine, another Anoka County and yet another is a director-at-large. The city and the county appoint their representatives on an annual basis; all other directors serve three-year terms. Arena board, city meet Fogerty Arena Board of Directors members who attended the March 20 meeting with the city included John Bauer, Dr. Tom Bloss, Robert Sikich and Tony Palumbo. Councilmember Dave Clark is the city’s representative on the board. He commented a curling facility would be something new and different for the city. “The beauty of this is it’s not just adding another sheet of ice,” Clark said. “It’s an underserved market. This facility would bring people in from all over.” Money matters reviewed Clasen told council members the Fogerty board is currently completing a due diligence process to determine if the curling facility idea is financially viable. Information presented at the council workshop stated the proposed curling facility would have an estimated construction cost of $1.4 to $1.8 million. Additional parking for an in-house curling club and the arena would cost $200,000 to $400,000, Clasen reported. The total project was estimated at $2 or $2.2 million. According to information presented by Clasen and Fogerty board members, Blaine-based Village Bank would provide tax-exempt project revenue bonds. The city of Blaine would have no tax or spending liability with the project, Clasen said. An existing Fogerty Arena second rink bond would be refinanced. Financial data is critical Capital debt for the facility would be serviced by club profits, food and beverage service, advertising, corporate and special events and charitable gambling. Fogerty officials are getting ready to spend money on the project’s design process, Clasen said. “We are looking to the city for guidance,” he added. According to Clasen, a new curling facility next door to Fogerty Arena or one located on city-owned land nearby would require about two acres total. If the financial data indicates Fogerty officials can’t build and operate a curling facility at a profit, its board of directors would terminate the project. “The area operations and member base will generate a net profit,” Fogerty officials wrote, adding more information about project debt service was needed. Construction on a new curling facility could begin next spring, Fogerty officials stated in the background material presented to the Blaine council. Council offers comments During the workshop, Councilmember Dick Swanson commented the concept was “way premature.” He also asked Clasen about the feasibility of national and regional competition. “Can you explain to the average person in Blaine why it would be a good idea to take a portion of Aquatore Park and put the land into this?” Swanson asked. Clasen and Clark commented curling currently has a strong youth component, and the public would be encouraged by the sport’s recreational aspects. Councilmember Katherine Kolb said curling was “awesome” as an Olympic sport on television, but worried about youth being around a highly social sport. “There is a lot of drinking associated with curling,” she said. “I have a lot of friends who curl. It’s an ‘everyman’ sport. I’m not familiar with youth doing it.” Kolb said she would have a problem if the facility was billed as youth-oriented and a liquor license was granted. “But, it’s great fun to watch,” she added. Councilmember Russ Herbst thought adding a curling facility near Fogerty Arena would be a great addition. However, he was concerned about land use. “We need to look at how other Aquatore Park parcels are used,” Herbst said. “The Blaine Economic Development Authority parcels need payback.” City Manager Clark Arneson said the city would soon start developing an Aquatore Park master plan to help address site development issues. “We certainly can incorporate a curling dialogue into that discussion,” Arneson told council members and Fogerty representatives during the workshop. Bauer grew up on the Iron Range and participated in curling as a youth. He said curling could become part of a high school or junior high athletic program. Fogerty officials would like to get a north metro high school league going, Bauer said, adding liquor sales would only occur for leagues and bonspiel events. “We’ve always been kind of first with this sort of thing,” said Mayor Tom Ryan. “It’s a good concept.” Ryan asked Clasen about charitable gambling. Clasen said charitable gambling proceeds would be a facility funding course. “Some of that would be used to offset capital needs,” he told the council. Council consensus at the March 20 workshop was for the Fogerty Arena Board of Directors to present a facility master plan to the city for future consideration. More research is ahead In an interview earlier this week, Clasen said the current hurdle that the board faces involves the potential expenditure of $4,000 to $5,000 for design work. “When you have a tight budget, spending that kind of money is a big step,” Clasen said, adding city officials appear receptive to a more serious proposal. According to Clasen, if four or five Blaine council members had expressed opposition to additional Aquatore Park expansion last week at the workshop, the curling facility idea would have died. Next week, members of the Fogerty Arena Board of Directors and Clasen will make a fact-finding mission to the Madison Curling Club in McFarland, Wis. “Madison provides the best apples-to-apples club comparison in our immediate area,” Clasen said. “They have a six-rink facility and have invited us down.” Clasen said club officials will share financial and operational data and will be conducting their annual meeting while the Blaine group makes its visit. “We are looking forward to getting down there and meeting with them,” he said. “They have a number of people who will come in early and meet with us.” Tim Hennagir is at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it . |
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