Farmington considers options for its ice arena

Build one or two new ice arenas.

Fix and add on to the current arena.

Or get a private developer to build an arena.

Those were some of the ideas that ricocheted around Farmington City Hall last week as the City Council and Farmington school board met to consider the fate of the deteriorating Schmitz-Maki Arena.

But with next year's hockey season on the line, the council and school board still haven't settled on a plan.

Instead, the elected officials called for yet more ideas. "I think there are options that are not presented here," Council Member Steve Wilson said after surveying a list of nine ideas compiled by a task force.

Council Member Julie May wondered whether Farmington could partner with Lakeville in an expansion of Hasse Arena. School Board Member Tim Burke wondered about adding outdoor ice.

The Farmington Youth Hockey Association has said there is enough demand for practice space to sustain a second sheet of ice if one were built.

"I'm a big proponent of a second sheet of ice," Council Member Christy Fogarty said, quickly adding, "I'm not sold that Schmitz-Maki is a done building."

Pipes in the floor of the Schmitz-Maki Arena, built in 1975, have been leaking coolant. Repairs are estimated at $1.1 million or more, depending on how long the city plans to keep the arena functioning. The city spent $30,000 last fall making emergency repairs to the leaky pipes.