Partnerships in Watertown bring decade-old ice arena plan to life

By Andrew Weeks

Along-awaited ice arena, first discussed about 10 years ago, is now closer to reality with the city of Watertown, South Dakota, joining forces with several partners to bring the facility to life. The ice arena, which will serve the community’s youth ice sports, is in the design phase by 292 Design Group, but other partners include RJM Construction, based in Minneapolis, and Crestone Companies, a commercial and residential construction company based in Watertown.

Brad Barickman, vice president of community at RJM, said local participation of any construction project is critical to its success, “especially understanding city and state regulations and the various community relationships that make projects like this succeed.” He said RJM and Crestone share similar values and that their combined effort on the project “will bring great value to the Watertown community.”

Construction on the 94,000-square-foot project, located on First Avenue and 31st Street Northeast in the town’s Willow Creek development, will get underway this fall with a tentative completion date of fall 2023.

The arena will include two NHL-sized ice rinks with the potential to include a third rink. The main rink will have capacity for 1,523 spectators, including executive club suites. The second, or practice rink, can accommodate 250 spectators. Public amenities will include a concession stand, skate rental, room for a pro shop and rentable spaces for conferences and private parties.

Barickman said he’s always been a big hockey fan and is excited to work on projects such as the arena, which will provide a venue for youth and adults to enjoy ice sports and other activities.

“I love the premier ice sheet,” he said. “I think they’re trying to draw a junior hockey team franchise into that location and the seating capacity is perfect for junior hockey. … I think it’s cool that this will have the seating capacity that can host South Dakota high school state tournaments, things like that. … I love projects like this that the community can use for years to come.”

Eric Skott, president and CEO of Crestone Companies, echoed similar sentiments, saying the project combines two of his life’s interests.

“The two great passions of mine are hockey and construction,” he said. “I’ve been working on trying to help Watertown get this hockey arena done one way or another, in any capacity I could, really since I was Hockey Association president five years ago. I got really involved with that and as things progressed, our company also progressed and an opportunity arose to partner with RJM.” They put a proposal together and were awarded the project. He also praised 292 Design Group for the modern architectural design of the future facility.

Skott said the building, when finished, could be used for some other functions besides ice sports, but that decision ultimately is up to the city. He said there continues to be a lot of state and community support for the project.

“I think our leaders are buying into it,” he said. “When I’m out in the community talking to people about it, I always hear support for it, and the consistent message from everybody is if we’re going to do it, let’s do it right. Let’s make sure this is a good facility. We’re getting a lot of buy-in from the entire community, and the city and community has voted and supported that effort financially as well.”

The city of Watertown started talking about developing an ice arena about 10 years ago, but the project was placed on the backburner due to changing administrations and other, more immediate, needs. But an interest in the project remained. The City Council on March 14 approved a resolution authorizing the issuance of $20 million in sales tax revenue bonds for the project, finally putting the decade-old plan in motion.

The current city administration has “really been pushing hard to make it happen,” Barickman said. “And from what I understand, this new development area has grown quite a bit over the last couple of years. It seems like they have the right property, the right location now, and just the right team behind it. … I think they have the right people involved now and really have a desire to see this thing go forward.”

Something that is challenging, as it is with many construction projects these days, is getting building materials in a timely fashion.

Dick Strassburg, a partner with Tegra Group, which represents the city on the ice arena project, said city leaders are confident the project will be a success, noting the partnership it has with the various groups are especially important during supply-chain challenges.

In a statement sent to Prairie Business, he said: “Given complexities with construction materials, subcontractors, estimating and managing demanding timelines, we’re confident the collaboration between RJM and Crestone will ensure we meet our specific project objectives.”

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