(Spirit Lake)– A major development this (Fri.) afternoon in efforts by the Lakes Area Hockey Association to build an indoor ice rink. It calls for the facility to be constructed on the northern portion of the Bedell Family YMCA campus. Officials with both entities say it will give them the ability to expand in the future.
Plans call for construction on the facility to get underway yet later this summer or fall.
The Lakes Area Hockey Association has been in place 12 years, having started on a small outdoor rink on the east side of Speier Park in Okoboji in 2002. It moved to a regulation sized outdoor rink behind the Bedell Family YMCA in 2004.
The new facility will be home to the Boji Blizzard youth hockey team and in the near future the Boji Blades Figure Skating program. It will also house public ice skating, broom ball and adult hockey.
The Spirit Lake city council earlier this week approved a $20,000 grant toward the project, with most of that coming as an in-kind contribution to expand utilities to the site.
