Hermantown celebrates opening of $25M new hockey arena
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The northeast Minnesota city of Hermantown celebrated the opening of its nearly $25 million hockey arena this weekend with a ribbon cutting ceremony, tours of the facility and a lineup of youth games.
The arena provides a badly-needed second sheet of indoor ice for this hockey-crazed town neighboring Duluth. Hermantown High School’s boys team has won three state titles over the last decade, and the community of about 10,000 has produced several current and former pro and college hockey players.
"Hockey is just part of the culture here,” explained city administrator John Mulder.
Hermantown boasts more than 40 teams with players ranging from three years old to high school age. And those teams are constantly jockeying for indoor ice time. For years many players—and their parents— have had to drive long distances for practices in neighboring communities.
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“Now we have adequate space for both our girls and boys high school teams and extra youth space. And it's just a fantastic addition to the community,” said Shawna Jokinen, a volunteer parent and president of Arena Legacy Fund, the nonprofit that raised private funding to help build the facility.
For the first time, the arena will provide a locker room for the girls high school team, said Jokinen, whose youngest daughter will soon be playing high school hockey.
The arena seats about 700 spectators and also includes a community walking track at the top of the arena with a railing for spectators to stand and watch. The project also includes updates at the original ice arena.
In 2022 Hermantown residents voted hike the local sales tax by a half percentage point to help pay for the new facility. Over the next 20 years, the tax is expected to raise about $11 million for the arena.
Donations and sponsorships will cover more than $6.5 million. That includes $1.6 million from NorthStar Ford to purchase the naming rights to the facility.
State bonding money contributed $7.5 million. Republican state representative Natalie Zeleznikar and Democratic state senator Grant Hauschild, who represent Hermantown in the state legislature, both backed the funding.
“The reason why Hermantown got the most amount of money for an arena is because you've got two individuals who are willing to work across the aisle to say, this is a priority,” said Hauschild.
A recent University of Minnesota Duluth study found that Hermantown hockey supports more than 60 jobs and pumps nearly $5 million into the local economy, much of that coming from visiting teams and spectators spending money in the community.
