Council to consider plan to build new ice arena on school district land

The Worthington City Council on Tuesday night will consider a District 518 recommendation to construct a new single-sheet ice facility on school district land.

This represents the latest chapter in the effort to construct a new ice facility in the city. An administrative memo in the agenda packet for Tuesday's meeting notes that the city has been the lead partner in the development of an ice arena project since early 2024, collaborating with representatives of District 518 and the Worthington Hockey Association. The group has reviewed a number of site and design options along with probable costs.

Last fall, the decision was made to pursue a project that included necessary improvements to the existing ice arena and construction of a new single-sheet arena addition at the Nobles County Fair Grounds site with a total project budget of $16 million. Funding commitments were secured in December with $10 million from the city of Worthington, $5 million from District 518 and $1 million from the Worthington Hockey Association.

The total project cost, however, has continued to incrementally increase as more construction costs have been identified. Earlier this month, the District 518 School Board Operations Committee discussed the possibility of amending the project, recommending the constructing a new single-sheet arena at the Intermediate School campus. This led to the school board approving a motion May 19 "to direct administration to enter into discussion with City of Worthington administration to develop an ownership, lease/rental and operational agreement for an arena facility to be built on the Intermediate School property site and enter into discussion with the school district’s facility consultant for the development of this project."

City staff is now requesting the council to consider the school district's recommendation.