BILLINGS — Billings has moved forward with plans for a new ice arena near Amend Park.
A new non-profit, the Yellowstone Ice Foundation, announced Thursday they are moving forward with the new arena as a part of a larger Amend Park Recreation Campus, or ARC. The campus will also include a separate indoor facility for multi-purpose sports courts and plans for a new turf outdoor soccer field.
“I really believe it'll compete with the Metra for bringing an economic development to Billings,” said South Billings Urban Renewal Association, or SBURA, consultant Dick Zier.
The $12 million two-sheet ice building is already half-funded, thanks to a $6 million donation from Signal Peak Energy, a coal mine near Roundup.
"It was time for the private sector to step up and put up the dollars to still allow a portion of this rec center to be built, and we focused our efforts on improving hockey and ice sports in Billings," said the president and CEO of the company Parker Phipps.
This all comes just a year after the failed $143 million parks bond proposal, most of which was for a large recreation center at the same proposed location. However, this project will be different, as it will mix both private and public funds.
“We shrunk it down to where we're still using tax dollars, but there will be no new tax dollars. We will not have to run a bond issue. The T-BID from the chamber has stepped up and it will help us with any operating deficiency that we have, and so there will be no new taxes to the people," said Zier.
The private partnerships will fund the ice arena and Billings Parks and Recreation and SBURA will be in charge of funding the rest of the campus and courts building. While it will be a similar idea to a rec center, the overall space will be more specialized.
“Instead of one gigantic building with all those different recreational pursuits included, this will be more of a campus feel where it'll be specific buildings for each specific sport or organization," said Parks and Rec Superintendent Kory Thomson.
The parks department and SBURA are excited about the new opportunities the campus will bring, including expanding options for hockey and economic development.
“We met with an individual from Canada that's very interested in bringing the junior hockey league team to Billings, and so the hockey facility will have seating to hold it I think it's going to be about 3,000 people,” said Zier. “Can you imagine if we got a soccer tournament, we got a basketball tournament, we got volleyball, we got ice, hockey, whatever it is, going, and then it'll filter over into the hotels, it'll filter into Sam's Club, Costco, all those places, and it'll be a real economic drive down on that South Side."
“Sports tourism, as a host for regional youth sports tournaments, I think there's a need for that in this community as well. From our standpoint, we're looking at it as a way to help our community, the folks that live here, to provide recreation throughout the entire year,” added Thomson.
To complete the needed funds, Signal Peak is starting a capital campaign to raise the other $6 million in order to break ground this spring.
"We're hoping to partner up with other companies and get this thing built,” said Phipps. “Once we get the lease signed with the city, we're able to submit our billing permit, and we would like to start construction in March of this year as soon as the winter weather clears.”
The courts project is still in the works and will take longer to complete. It will be an estimated $22 million investment. While more information will be finalized in the coming weeks, the city will soon skate into a new future.
“I've been working on it for four years, and today's a very exciting day to have this happen, and going forward with it," said Zier.
