Edina's Ice Arena Expansion Omits 1 Sport
EDINA, Minn. (WCCO) -- The Edina City Council approved a multi-million dollar expansion to Braemar Arena, and that means an outdoor ice rink, and a dome for sports such as soccer and football.
But is it good news for all athletes?
Susie Miller runs Braemar Arena and said so many people want to play that they turn down 60 percent of the Edina Hockey Association's requests for ice time.
"We have 1,300 youth hockey players in a city of over 50,000 people," Miller said. "They have to go buy ice in other places because they cannot get their ice needs met here."
Hockey and figure skating dad Carl Scheiner knows that well.
"The community has kind of an insatiable appetite for the ice," he said.
The new plan, however, is for hockey players and the public – not figure skaters.
"In order to have success, you need that ice time," Braemer City of Lakes Figure Skating Club coach Kathleen Gazich said. "So we'd always like more."
The new expansion will also mean room for indoor soccer fields, so there won't be snow cancellations like last year.
