BLAINE, Minn. — This week ground was broken on a major expansion at Blaine’s Fogerty Arena. Now a new state of the art curling facility is only five months away from completion. “The new facility will have six sheets of dedicated [curling] ice” said Fogerty’s general manager Mark Clasen. The project will bring a number of construction jobs to the area and will provide permanent jobs when the new arena opens in late 2012.
The construction will also include enhancements to the existing structure ensuring Fogerty’s long term viability. A new refrigeration plant will be built to serve one of Fogerty’s existing rinks and the new curling facility, “it will set us up for the next 40 years” said Clasen.
The new facility will train the most elite curlers in the nation year round but it will also help grow the sport with learn to curl classes and summer youth camps. The new curling facility will also be completely handicap accessible as curling is now a medal sport in the Paralympics.
Fogerty Arena is a non-profit organization and no public tax dollars are being used on this expansion. An expansion that Mark is determined to see succeed “this will be a big success, it’s a big deal” exclaimed Clasen.
