Maple Grove Community Center Third Ice Sheet Nearing Completion
The floor of the new third sheet of ice at Maple Grove Community Center is crisscrossed with more than 11 miles of cooling pipe that will keep the new rink ready for action year-round once it opens later this fall.
Cooling pipes are installed for the Maple Grove Community Center’s third sheet of ice.
“It’s moving along really well,” said City of Maple Grove Parks and Recreation Director Chuck Stifter. “It’s getting close to finalizing some pipe work before they pour concrete on the third sheet here in the next few weeks.”
The construction is part of the multi-phase expansion of the community center, funded by a sales tax increase and state bonding money.
“This is a nice improvement for the city,” said Stifter. “Surely, staff and the hockey community (are) very excited.”
The on-going construction is just part of phase one of the expansion. Stifter said plans are still under review for phase two, which will include revamping the adjacent Lifetime Fitness to become the city-run fitness center.
He said city leaders continue to “really look at room plans individually, lay out floor plans to accommodate everything from the banquet facility and meeting rooms, the senior center, office space, aquatics, the fitness component that’s going to come with the addition of the Lifetime space, the indoor playground–all of those things get planned out as far as their space needs, and once that is improved, then you get on to a more detailed design.”
City Council should see those plans by late July, and then Stifter hopes to be able to host an open house by late summer or early fall for the public to see what changes have already happened and what else the city has in mind.
Stifter also mentioned that the construction will have some impact on Maple Grove Days, as most all activities are now relocated to Central Park instead of at the Community Center.
