The Hutchinson Hockey Association and city staff want to give Burich Arena an overhaul.
Representatives from the two groups met in late January to discuss updating the arena’s west rink and connect both east and west rinks with a lobby and upper concourse. The city also aims to improve the east rink wall in 2020, purchase a new Zamboni in 2021 and build a new parking lot in 2023 as part of its five-year Capital Improvement Plan, according to City Administrator Matt Jaunich.
No decisions on the improvements have been made, and all design concepts are preliminary, said Marv Haugen, facilities manager for the Hutchinson Parks and Recreation Department.
“The plan has been in place for a little while,” he said. “There (would be at least two phases after the CIP improvements): The first would be to add a new concrete floor to the west rink and reposition it further west to make room for permanent bleachers.”
Replacing the sand floor in the west rink with concrete would make the space more versatile, Haugen said, as indoor field turf could be added during the spring and summer months, similar to how the east rink is used. The space could then be used for lacrosse, baseball, softball and soccer.
“The school district could possibly use that space, as could various other youth associations,” Haugen said. “The city could provide programming as well.”
The second phase, which the Hockey Association and other groups would likely have to fund privately, would include a second-floor concourse with access to both east and west bleachers.
This is a preliminary floor plan detailing the potential lobby to be constructed between the east and west ice rinks of Burich Arena. The lobby would include a second-story concourse that would act as a community space, with concession stands and windows overlooking each rink.
“The hockey association might at some point include the Hutchinson Figure Skating Association to figure out funding for that phase,” Haugen said.
This heated mezzanine area would house a concession stand and seating options, which would be useful for students, according to Haugen.
“It ties those two buildings together, and it makes a great gathering spot,” Haugen said. “It makes the arena more of a community space. Students might be dropped off early for practice and could use the chairs and tables to do homework. Because with hockey and figure skating, you spend a lot of time in the winter at the rink. If you can make use of that in other ways, that would be a big selling point.”
The city’s Capital Improvement Plan additions between 2020 and 2023 would total almost $2 million, with roof and wall improvements being the most expensive piece at $1 million. No cost has been identified for the west rink and lobby improvements, Haugen said, but if enough funds are available, the two phases can be rolled into one.
“We’ve got a good concept in place,” he said. “We would work with our associations to finalize the design once funding has been identified.”
According to Jaunich, these updates would come after 2023.
Burich Arena has seen an array of updates since opening in 1977. The addition of the west rink in 1998 was its first large-scale improvement. Now, as another 20 years have passed, the arena might be due for another overhaul, Haugen said. Its refrigeration plant was moved and updated in 2015 for $1.8 million, which freed up the space needed to build the proposed second-floor concourse.
“This (concourse) would kind of finish off the building,” Haugen said. “We’ve checked a couple of big boxes off.”
The west rink, which cost roughly $1 million at the time, was mostly privately funded. About $800,000 was contributed through volunteer fundraising work and donations from Citizens Bank and the Burich family.
According to Hockey Association President Brian Knorr, the group’s meeting with city staff was to discuss how to move forward with the plans not included in the CIP. Again, nothing has been decided. The meeting was mostly informal, Jaunich said.
