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Sports complex sets September opening date |
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Wednesday, 23 April 2008 |
Cliff Buchan
News Editor
In five months, youth will be skating on a new ice surface at the Forest Lake Sports Complex in the Headwaters Development south of the city airport here.
That was the prediction on Saturday as the Forest Lake Area Athletic Association broke ground on the $5.5 million facility that will be built on a six-acre site leased from the city of Forest Lake for $1 for 30 years.
Work is expected to begin soon with the sports complex and field house to be completed in September in time for the fall skating season. Along with FLAAA members and youth, officials from the city of Forest Lake, Forest Lake area schools, community members and business owners took part in Saturday’s ceremony.
Forest Lake Mayor Stev Stegner and ISD 831 Superintendent Lynn Steenblock joined FLAAA members to lead the official dirt moving duty with gold-colored shovels. Uniform-clad youth led the cheers.
A key step
It was a key day for the long-standing bid to bring a new skating facility to Forest Lake. The decision to move ahead also puts to rest the doubters who said it will never happen, said Larry Schminski, a tri-chair of the FLAAA steering committee.
“It’s been a long process, but it’s come to this,” Schminski said on Saturday. He thanked the community for its support and pledged the facility will be open on time.
“This is a wonderful community,” he said. “Now we will have a complex like this. We will be open in September.”
Laurie Kumerow, who also serves on the steering committee, praised the many people from the community who donated time and funds and those who will help with volunteer labor this summer. She also had praise for the business support, including Forest Lake Cycle and Skate, which will have a skate business in the complex.
She extended a huge thank you to the Hardenbergh family of Stillwater, formerly called the St. Croix Foundation, and the Andersen Foundation for their individual grants of $250,000.
Kumerow gave special recognition to Kay Doherty, who along with her late husband, Tom, sold the land where the arena will be built to the city at a bargain rate. “We wouldn’t be here today if it wasn’t for Kay’s generosity,” Kumerow said.
Larry Porter, long-time FLAAA member, pointed to the many youth in their respective uniforms as the motivation. “This is who it is for,” Porter said.
The facility
The facility will include one year-round ice sheet and a field house with ice five months and artificial turf for field sports the rest of the year.
FLAAA will fund, build and manage the facility on land leased from the city. The site is adjacent to the outdoor fields the city is constructing off Fenway Avenue.
So far, FLAAA has raised some $900,000 and will finance the $5.5 million facility with revenue bonds issued by the city of Forest Lake, acting as a conduit for the financing. The city-endorsed bond program means a drop in the bond interest rate from 8 percent to around 5 percent.
The facility is expected to generate the revenues needed to pay debt service and operational costs, and also provide a revenue source for the FLAAA in the wake of declining pull-tab revenues.
For more information on the Sports Complex and additional donation opportunities, go to www.flaaa.org.
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