West Fargo Hockey Executive Director Jeremy Jorgenson
WEST FARGO (KFGO) – West Fargo Park Board voted in favor Wednesday evening of adding another sheet of ice to the Veterans Memorial Arena.
The board passed a letter of intent that will now go to the West Fargo School District for it’s consideration.
The letter says the park district would commit up to $5 million to the project that would give West Fargo more ice, something West Fargo Hockey Executive Director Jeremy Jorgenson says is desperately needed.
“Bismarck, Minot, Grand Forks, Fargo have 28 sheets of ice. West Fargo has four. If the compressors go out in Vets tomorrow, there’s no hockey in West Fargo this year.”
Jorgenson says the West Fargo Sports arena has no ice due to issues with the compressors. That leaves just two sheets of ice in West Fargo. He says the expansion to the Vets Arena would help keep situations like this from happening again.
Supporters of the expansion say more ice would benefit players as well as the park district.
“A significant benefit of this project is that it will reduce the need for 6 a.m. and 9 p.m. practices which don’t end till 10 o’clock. Kids won’t get home till 10: 30,” Association Board Member Alex Aughinbaugh said, “which are currently unavoidable due to the our limited ice availability. Ensuring that kids get proper sleep was crucial when the well be before their well-being, and this project will help make that possible by expanding our ice capacity.”
The school district has previously said it will give $5 million to the project, but only if voters approve a potential bond referendum. A previous referendum failed last year.
The current letter of intent limits the project’s cost at $20 million. West Fargo Hockey Association has pledged up to $10 million.
West Fargo Parks would own and manage the expansion.
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