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Council recasts plans to replace Cook Ice Arena

By MARIA ELENA BACA, Star Tribune

Last update: November 17, 2009 - 10:55 PM

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After a special four-hour workshop session, Coon Rapids City Council appears to be moving toward a scaled-back, phased community center project.

At a minimum, the council seems likely give the go-ahead to replace the 50-year-old Cook Ice Arena. An indoor playground and senior center also may still be viable options.

But plans to add a fitness center, gymnasium space and an aquatics center seem likely to be deferred for now.

The special meeting Monday, held at Anoka-Ramsey Community College, marked the first time the full council has held such a forum to discuss specific plans for the community center. If built to current plans, it would have been a 159,000-square-foot project with a pricetag of $38 million, plus $8.5 million for land acquisition and other expenses. Once completed, probably no earlier than 2012, the project would have added $125 a year to the average homeowner's tax bill, to cover the cost of construction and operation.

A 2007 survey found a majority of city residents favored a center. City officials have said it is an opportunity to spark private investment on Coon Rapids Boulevard. Still, an opposition group has been very vocal in criticizing the added tax burden for homeowners.

Several council members -- even some who supported the project in past votes -- said Monday that they were uncomfortable with its cost and scope.

Ward 1 Council Member Denise Klint said she attended the meeting hoping to seek compromises that could build support for the project among the council and the community.

Ward 4 Council Member Joe Sidoti, who voted conditionally in July to move forward with the project, said he won't approve the next step without assurance of public partnerships and private investment in the center and along the corridor -- information he said he's sought from the beginning.

At-Large Council Member Scott Schulte, a longtime opponent of a large-scale community center, said he believes the city erred in not seeking outside sponsorships from the start. He and Ward 3 Council Member Paul Johnson said they would oppose a project that would require adding staffing costs to the city, which earlier this year eliminated 13 positions from its payroll. Both indicated cautious support for proceeding with the ice arena.

An official vote to proceed with planning the center was postponed from Dec. 1 to Dec. 8. Until then, city staff was instructed to work with architect Perkins+Will on a new, more modest design and detailed cost estimates for the ice arena, the indoor playground and the senior center.

City Manager Matt Fulton warned the council that dropping the fitness and aquatics centers would cut off two of the center's biggest potential revenue generators. Mayor Tim Howe and Ward 5 Council Member Bruce Sanders warned that they would not support a center that's been scaled down beyond recognition.

"If it's going to be a pole shed with folding chairs, I'm not in," Sanders said.

Maria Elena Baca • 612-673-4409

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