WEST FARGO — Facing increasing ice rental rates that no longer offer a discount for heavy use, West Fargo Hockey Association representatives say they would buy Veterans Memorial Arena from the West Fargo Park District.
Scott Haider, executive vice president for the West Fargo Hockey Association, said the group and the park district’s longstanding relationship seems to be fraying, and he would like the two groups to “get back to where we were.” Haider was joined by about two dozen association members at the West Fargo Park Board’s meeting on Wednesday, Nov. 12.
The association is the largest user of Veterans Memorial Arena, renting upward of 1,500 hours annually on the two ice sheets for youth hockey. The association and the park district have worked together for decades on efforts to add more ice or install needed upgrades.
According to the memo, Horace would conduct a “land swap” with a local developer, which would allow the city to offer the association eight acres of land near County Road 17 and south of Luther Avenue. The West Fargo Hockey Association would then finance, design, construct, own and operate a multi-use ice arena on the land. The ice facility may have one or two sheets of ice along with locker rooms, concessions, training areas and offices.
Hadier said there are approximately 730 youth who play hockey in the West Fargo Hockey Association, and the number continues to grow.
“That is why we’re building in Horace,” Haider said. “Regardless of what we do in Horace, it is not going to change our need, our desire to be at Vets. Vets (Memorial Arena) is our home.”
The association is concerned about the rising cost of ice rental from the Park District and is questioning whether the district is treating all sports and their respective organizations equally.
Haider said in 2022, the association was charged a rental rate of $150 per hour. Once the association rented 1,200 hours, the rental rate dropped to 50%, or $75 per hour.
In 2023, the district charged the association $155 per hour for the first 1,200 hours and offered a 50% discount for additional hours. The association rented about 1,541 hours in 2023 for a total cost of more than $231,000. In 2024, the rental rate was increased to $165 per hour, and included the discount for use exceeding 1,200 hours. In 2024, the hockey association paid about $255,400 for just over 1,600 hours.
However, this year, another increase was approved that will charge $175 per hour from Sept. 1 through Dec. 31, and after Jan. 1, the rate will be $180 per hour. The park district will no longer offer a discount for renting more than 1,200 hours.
Hadier said the association expects rental costs to be upward of $284,000 for the upcoming hockey season.
“We are fully aware that running a hockey rink is not a venture that anyone gets into to make money,” he said.
Haider said the Park Board has justified the increases to offset operating costs and to remain on par with what is charged by other ice facilities statewide.
Justin Germandson, West Fargo Park District business manager, said Veterans Memorial Arena will have about $845,000 in expenses in 2026. It will generate about $445,000 in revenue through services, such as ice rental and concessions, which leaves about $400,000 every year the district pays to operate the facility.
Park Board President Jake Lauritsen said recent budget reports that show a steep increase in operation costs is due to new accounting/reporting methods the district implemented this year. In prior years, full-time staff member salaries were not a line item attributed to the arena. Instead, all full-time employee salaries were paid through the park administrative department, and now full-time staff costs are billed to the facility or department with which they work.
“That’s brand new this year,” Lauritsen said. “The total for the park district is what it is, but we’re trying to be more transparent with the costs of the park district.”
Haider said that helps explain why the budget appeared to have such a jump in costs. However, the upcoming rental rates may be the highest in the state. The Bismarck Park District charges $120 an hour for “their almost brand new facility.” Ice is rented for $140 per hour in Minot and Grand Forks, while smaller cities such as Dickinson and Devils Lake charge as little as $80 per hour.
Haider mentioned partnerships the Park District has undertaken with other youth organizations, such as recent upgrades to North Elmwood Park, which included the addition of baseball diamonds. Additionally, the West Fargo Baseball Association and the district partnered on a ground lease for land where the baseball association built an indoor facility.
Haider, along with a few members of the audience, said they would like the district to sell them Vets Arena I and Vets Arena II, where the two ice sheets are located. While the association would then shoulder the costs of operation, selling the publicly owned facility would likely not be an easy task.
Following the regular agenda items and after members of the West Fargo Hockey Association left the meeting, Park District Executive Director Amy Zundel asked city attorney John Shockley, who attended the meeting virtually, if a sale is possible.
Shockley said the process of selling Veterans Memorial Arena to a private organization would likely be onerous and could be hindered by the law or the public.
“I would think there would be significant opposition to vacating the Vets Arena as public property,” Shockley said.
Other factors include whether the land for Veterans Memorial Arena was dedicated to the district, and how additional groups, such as the West Fargo VFW, which made significant contributions to the arena over the years, would be affected.
Lauritsen asked Shockley to prepare a document outlining the issues and laws that would need to be addressed if the district considered a sale. The board took no formal action on the matter.
The West Fargo Hockey Association
The park district had agreed to contribute $5 million for the additional ice if the school district also contributed $5 million.
The school district was willing to do so if voters gave their approval as part of a bond referendum vote in February,
but voters denied the question of contributing funds for additional ice.