New Ulm hockey gets new home

By JIM BASTIAN

Journal Sports Writer

NEW ULM -- On Saturday, March 15 at 10 a.m., the citizens of New Ulm and the surrounding area will be able to see New Ulm's newest, and without a doubt the finest, multi-purpose facility in southern Minnesota and beyond when the New Ulm Civic Center, located in the Brown County Fairgrounds, has a ribbon-cutting and open house.

A private open house will be held Friday, March 14 from 7-9 p.m. for residents of New Ulm who have served or are currently serving on commissions in New Ulm.

And I can tell you from first-hand experience that not only is the outside of the facility beautiful but the inside is also just as jaw-dropping.

"I think that the people of New Ulm will be impressed with the design of the facility," New Ulm Assistant City Manager Tom MacAulay said about the arena that holds an NHL and an Olympic sheet of ice. "You have a facility that is not only a first-class hockey facility, but you are going to have some tremendous opportunities (for shows) with the dry floor.

"And that is the way that the New Ulm City Council wanted to -- from the very beginning -- develop this into something that is going to be multi-use facility, just like Vogel Arena has been for many years," he said. "This is going to fill that capacity very nicely."

MacAulay said that the possibilities for usage "are so many I don't think that we have thought of them all, both in terms of sports and in terms of space."

The two ice sheets will be used heavily during the winter months, with the NHL-size rink, the smaller of the two, to be the "permanent ice" for nine months.

The large Olympic-sized rink, located on the south end, will have ice from October to February, similar to what is done at Vogel Arena.

The Olympic-size sheet of ice will have seating for around 1,000, with seating available for approximately 150-200 on the NHL size sheet of ice.

When you first enter the arena, you look off to the left and see a spectacular stair-case that leads to the NHL sheet of ice with the Olympic arena just off to your right.

"But there is access to both arenas from the staircase and from the concourse that separates the two," MacAulay said. "You can upload or download -- depending on what is going on in the facility. They wanted to make sure that you can bring people in from the front and upload them (up the staircase) or you can download them (down the staircase). This enhances the the flexibility of the facility."

Between the two sheets of ice, there are eight team rooms -- four on each side. There are two sets of two, and both have showers.

There was one misconception about the arena that MacAulay said isn't true.

"When we looked at the design of both arenas, we saw that to make an entryway for one Zamboni to go from one arena to another ... the further on the design development that we got, the more money got to be a concern, the more it started to shrink," he said. "There was no flaw in the design -- it was a conscious decision on our part. We are cost-conscious and we did it that way.

"There are going to be two Zambonis -- there always were going to be two Zambonis," he said.

MacAulay said that the current Zamboni at Vogel Arena will be used at the facility, and they are currently looking for another.

The facility also includes a warming kitchen and a concession stand area that opens up to both arenas from the same location.

Some of the rooms in the facility will be used for ice skate rental and skate sharpening, and there is also a Community Room.

"This facility was, again, designed from Day One to be multi-purpose, and that is New Ulm's middle name," MacAulay said.

Around the concourse there is a dining area and a waiting area.

The south side of the facility overlooks the fairgrounds "and that side will eventually be landscaped. The main lobby on the fairgrounds use has bathrooms in the entry way and you are able to secure the building from the lobby. Or if they want to use it for larger functions, you have access from both sides," he said.

One of the unique things about the facility is the glass and concrete design.

"From early on, the architect got the sense that we wanted some German influence on the structure," MacAulay said. "That is what he did."

Another unique thing about the facility is that under seats on both sides of the arena, "we use waste heat from the compressors. We have five or six different zones where we have piping going under the seats in the concrete which keeps the seats warm," MacAulay said. "That, again, was part of the plan and I don't know if any other facility does that."

Each arena also has broadcast facilities with cable hook-up.

MacAulay said that when they were in pre-design aspect, "we took several tours and went to several different facilities. We went up to Edina and Blaine; we went to Eden Prairie. What we tried to do is take the best of what all of them had.

"The unique part of this the arenas are two boxes, but they are joined in a way that makes them very tasteful," he said. "This concourse is a unique feature that you will not see in a lot of facilities. You may see this in Blaine (where they have six arenas). That was where that design feature came from. But as far as the glass -- you are just not going to see that.

"When New Ulm does something, they do it the right way," MacAulay said. "The City Council has always been like that. It will last, be tasteful and it will fit in with everything else."

And the facility is something that, when you go through it, you will be proud to have here.

It is a tremendous facility, and that may be an understatement.