By Logan Wells, News Director | Logan@kymnradio.net
Tonight, the Council will consider approving the bids for the new ice arena project in a process different from the traditional bidding system. The city has been working with the firm RJM Construction to design the arena and solicit bids for the project. Instead, the council will approve the project and set a maximum total price with RJM leading the bidding process. Northfield City Administrator Ben Martig stated that this was a new program that state law was allowing for the city to use the guaranteed maximum price process. Martig noted that this process helps the city be more flexible with issues like inflation:
“So by compressing the time when you’re doing the price checking and then coming back to bid, it should be more predictable on some of the bidding that we have on this form.” – Ben Martig, Northfield City Administrator on the KYMN Morning Show
RJM Construction has collected bids for the project and returned with a final estimate of total costs. The total construction cost is set at $20.9 million, and with the full owners’ cost added in, the cost is set to be $24.7 million. One notable item that the council has discussed recently is the 1% for the Arts, which is money set aside for public art as part of the project. With the Ice Arena, the art allowance would be $194,702.
What is the Cost to the Individual Taxpayer?
To taxpayers in Northfield or Dundas, a home valued at $350,000 would result in an increase in their city portion property taxes of about $17 a month or $204 a year.
From the 5/6/2025 Northfield City Council Meeting Supplemental Memo 1
Who Is Paying For What in The Project?
The funds for the project are coming from a variety of sources, including the sale of the previous ice arena, which is $1.025 million, as well as donations from the Northfield Hockey Association, which has raised $3.8 million in cash and the value of the donated land for the arena. The first $2 million will lower the Ice Arena cost to taxpayers; the remaining funds will cover two alternatives. First is precast stadium seating instead of aluminum seating. The second alternative would be adding a dryland training facility, but the association would need to raise an additional $187,000 in the next 60 days for it to be included in the project. Chris Kennelly, who has been leading the fundraising for the arena, cited that a new rink and these alternatives have significant benefits:
“And then the argument of saying we’re really just replacing one sheet. We hear a lot. There are currently teams that won’t play in our arena just for the current state it’s in. That happens at the high school level. It has also limited us in hosting more tournaments and filling our tournaments when we have them. So certainly there’s upside there. We’ve continued to look at partnerships with Saint Olaf and also with Shattuck and Faribault for hosting bigger tournaments.” – Chris Kennelly, Arena Committee Chair for the Northfield Hockey Association.
The Hockey Association is the club organization for hockey in Northfield.
The Northfield Public Schools, which facilities Raider hockey, will also contribute $250,000 to the Ice Arena each year for the next 20 years.
The remaining construction costs will come from the Cities of Northfield and Dundas, which are contributing based on an equal share for each city.
If approved tonight the construction would begin in June with the new ice arena set to open in the summer of 2026.
Learn more about the Ice Arena Project:
- Podcast: An In-Depth Look At the Northfield Ice Arena
- Article: Why Does Northfield Need An Ice Arena?
- Article: Why Is There No Referendum For the Northfield Ice Arena Project, Unlike In 2017?
- Article: Why is Dundas involved in the Northfield Ice Arena Project?
- Article: Who Will Actually Own & Operate The Northfield Ice Arena?
- Article: What Happens To The Ice Arena Agreement With the School District Budget Reductions?
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