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Rinks 7 and 8 Open at Newly-Expanded Schwan Super Rink at the National Sports Center

Blaine, Minn. (October 5, 2006) – The National Sports Center (NSC) opened two new sheets of ice at its newly-expanded Schwan Super Rink on October 1. The addition of the new rinks, which are temporarily called rinks 7 and 8, brings the Schwan Super Rink’s capacity to six sheets of ice in a single facility. Two more sheets will open in mid-December, bringing the Schwan Super Rink to eight-sheets, making it the largest ice arena of its kind in the world.

 

“We were extremely happy to open the new sheets of ice on October 1, the exact day that was promised to our partner hockey associations,” said the Schwan Super Rink’s Ice Operations Director Pete Carlson. “But this will be just the first of many construction marks that our contractor Kraus Anderson Companies will be hitting in the next two months.”

 

Construction will continue on other components of the arena expansion while rinks 7 and 8 are open. Here is the tentative construction completion schedule for rinks 7 and 8:

  • »  Installation of rubber flooring: October 5
  • »  Dehumidification operational: October 16
  • »  Player boxes finished: October 19
  • »  Scoreboards installed: October 19
  • »  American flags installed: October 19

 

The final two sheets of ice, temporarily named rinks 5 and 6, and other major components of the expansion, such as the Herb Brooks Dryland Training Center and a state-of-the-art figure skating training area, are tentatively scheduled to open on December 17. Here are the major components of the final opening on December 17:

  • »  Rinks 5 and 6 open for ice rental
  • »  Main entrance to rinks 5 and 6 opens
  • »  Information window and locker room key check-out opens
  • »  Herb Brooks Dryland Training Center completed
  • »  National Sports Center Figure Skating Training Center completed
  • »  Skyway connector to original Schwan Super Rink opens

 

When all construction has been completed on the Schwan Super Rink expansion, the NSC will close 39-year old Columbia Arena in Fridley. Many of the Columbia Arena user groups, such as the Tri-City Hockey Association and Bethel University, will transfer all or part of their ice rentals to the new facility.

 

Kraus Anderson paid the NSC $3 million for the Columbia property. The budget for the new four-sheet expansion at the Schwan Super Rink is approximately $10 million. The original Schwan Super Rink, which opened in 1998, had a construction cost of $11.5 million.

 

The first major ice event scheduled to use all eight sheets of ice in the new Schwan Super Rink will be the Schwan Cup high school hockey tournament, December 27-29. The existing Schwan Super Rink attracts over one million visitors each year. The new four sheet arena expansion is expected to nearly double that attendance.

 

An official arena dedication ceremony will be held in February of 2007.