National Sports Center Adding New Maintenance Facility | Blaine

RJ Marco Construction was slated to begin construction this week on the National Sports Center’s new Maintenance Operations Center. The facility will be a new 25,955-square-foot addition to the center’s Super Rink and includes a 23,000 square foot outdoor storage area. (Map by NAI Architects)

The National Sports Center in Blaine is planning to construct a new Maintenance Operations Center on the back of the center’s Super Rink.

The National Sports Center, located at 1700 105th Ave. NE, currently operates a campus maintenance facility within two buildings on 105th Avenue, just west of Invictus Brewing Co., that houses all maintenance operations for the sports center’s grounds and Victory Links Golf Course, according to a report by Blaine community development specialist Elizabeth Showalter.

The two buildings were built in the 1960s, prior to construction of the National Sports Center and are in poor condition, Showalter said.

The National Sports Center recently received funding from the 2020 capital bonding bill to construct a 25,955-square-foot addition on the back of the center’s Super Rink with a 23,000-square-foot outdoor storage area adjacent to the city of Blaine’s Public Works facility at 1850 105th Ave. NE.

The sports center’s new facility will include office space, a shop area, warehouse space and lawn maintenance chemical storage. The outdoor storage area will be used to store irrigation and landscaping materials and will have a small fuel dispensing area and dumpsters.

The Blaine Planning Commission voted unanimously Tuesday, July, 13, to recommend approval of granting a conditional use permit to allow for construction of the new Maintenance Operations Center. A public hearing was held at the meeting, but no one provided any input.

The City Council voted unanimously to grant the conditional use permit Monday, Aug. 2.

Showalter said the new Maintenance Operations Center addition will be constructed of rock-faced block, which is consistent with other buildings on the National Sports Center Campus.

The outdoor storage area currently consists of gravel and will need to be changed to asphalt or concrete as required by Blaine’s zoning code. Additionally the outdoor storage will need to be enclosed with a PVC-coated chain-link fence, Showalter said.

The Maintenance Operations Center will take up 40 parking spaces in the rear of the National Sports Center’s Super Rink.

“The [National Sports Center] does not feel these are necessary for the operation of the center, and the new rear parking lot layout will improve circulation for buses which is more important to their operations,” Showalter said in her report. “The city does not have a set parking requirement for the [National Sports Center] and instead reviews parking as developments occur. While this is a reduction in parking in the immediate area near the Super Rink expansion, ample parking is provided in front of the Super Rink which can be used for both buildings.”

Showalter said five existing trees will be removed during construction of the new facility. She said the trees will need to replaced elsewhere.

The facility is being designed by St. Paul-based NAI Architects, and will be constructed by RJ Marco Construction, based in Little Canada. Construction was slated to begin Wednesday, Aug. 18, and is expected to be completed sometime in February 2022.

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