Where: 8325 E. Bush Lake Road, Bloomington

Type: Recreational Size: 1,402 square feet

Developer: Three Rivers Park District

Details: The Minneapolis Ski Club, partnering with the Three Rivers Park District, has received approvals to construct a new judging building alongside its 70-meter ski-jumping hill at the Bush Lake Ski Jumps in Bloomington.

The 1,402-square-foot structure replaces an already demolished former judging building.

Jack Broz of the Minneapolis Ski Club said the new judging stand is necessary to meet the requirements of the U.S. Ski and Snowboard Association's 2013 Junior National Championships for ski jumping and Nordic combined, which is set for Jan. 23 at the facility -- part of the Three Rivers District's Hyland Ski and Snowboard area.

The city's planning commission last week gave its unanimous approval for the project, in which a two-level structure with separated booths for judges and a rooftop coach's observation deck will be provided.

It will be raised 35 feet above the ground at its highest point, and will feature stucco building materials, plans indicated.

Tom McDowell, Three Rivers Park District associate superintendent, said the goal of its partnership with the ski club is to provide basic services at Hyland while the club concentrates on growing the sport. The arrangement came as a condition of state funding used to help construct the 70-meter jump in 2000.

Broz said the national competitions at Hyland will draw hundreds of people from around the country and represents the first time such an event has been held in a major metropolitan area rather than in mountain locales such as Lake Placid, N.Y., and Steamboat Springs, Colo.

Don Jacobson is a St. Paul-based freelance writer. He can be contacted at hotproperty.startribune@gmail.com