The city of Fridley is poised to buy the dilapidated Columbia Arena this week and to start demolition as early as this fall.
The 1960s-era ice hockey arena has sat empty for years as private developers who owned it tried to find a new use for the property.
The city will spend $2.6 million for the 14-acre site, with a closing set for Thursday.
City leaders say the arena gives them a rare chance to redevelop a large piece of land in a developed suburb.
"We have an opportunity to purchase this large eyesore," said Paul Bolin, Fridley's assistant executive director of the Housing and Redevelopment Authority. "We are not going to just rush into any project. We are going to take our time and make sure whatever direction we head in, that it's meeting a number of our community needs and goals."
Columbia Arena, at 7011 University Av. NE., opened in 1969 and was originally owned by Anoka County. In the 1990s, the county transferred ownership to the National Sports Center Foundation, a nonprofit organization set up by the state of Minnesota.
The arena had a brush with fame. "D3: The Mighty Ducks," the third movie in the Disney hockey trilogy, was filmed at Columbia Arena in the mid-1990s.
The facility went downhill from there.