Bemidji (MN) Regional Events Center

[no97]

I know I posted a while ago about (what, at the time was a proposed) Bemidji, Minnesota Regional Events Center (2006, perhaps?). I have been involved on a couple committees (one to select an architect, and one to help the selected architect with programming the building). I also continue to be in contact with the architects, and city employees as a resource/consultant in my capacity as a sports radio personality who has visited many hockey facilities.

First off, the primary "anchor" tennant of this building will be Division-I men's and women's Bemidji State University ice hockey. It will aslo be used for flat floor shows, concerts, and the like. The attached convention center is hoped to draw local and state conventions. There is nothing of this size (the arena will be approximately 4,000 seats, and 25 suites, with the convention center including a 10,000 sq-foot ballroom and associated break-out rooms) within at least an hour and a half drive in any direction (the closest will be Grand Forks, ND at approximately 115 miles). Most of the other facilities of this nature are closer to 2.5 hours or greater away. (The size of the building is also hoped to allow for Bemidji State to gain admitance to the WCHA for its men's hockey program)

The building will be financed in two ways - first, the state of Minnesota will fund $20 mill of the cost through state bonding dollars. The rest (and as I noted in the topic title, the final cost is uncertain at this time) will come through a local .5% city sales tax. Bemidji voters passed this sales tax on a referrendum back in 2006.

Now, on to the pictures. The Bemidji Regional Events Center website has just updated their image page, where you can find elevations, renderings, floorplans and siteplans (since this Events Center is part of a much larger, approx. $100 mil redevelopment of a former hardboard plant on the south-shore of Lake Bemidji - you can get an idea of how the whole project will turn out here (PDF))as well.

It is hoped to break ground this fall, and have it ready by the 2010-11 season. Thoughts?

Moose

[Lee.]

World Juniors, here we come.

Great looking facility. Gives me a reason to try to get back to Bemidji when we swing back east this summer.

[Joshawaggie]

Wow, this thing is finally gonna happen huh. Good luck gettin into the WCHA though (I'm rootin for ya). I know UND is cooperating with Bemidji by scheduling them, other schools, such as St Cloud and Mankato are not offering the same courtesy, even though they were the ones in Bemidji's position years ago begging to be in the WCHA. Now that they are in though, I guess it's every man for themselves.

Can't wait to see this when it is done, I might have to catch a game there when I am back in ND/MN.

[no97]

The World Junior thing may be a bit of a stretch, but, if it ever goes back to Grand Forks, ND, it wouldn't shock me if the Bemidji facility was used over the one in Thief River Falls as the secondary rink (TRF is closer, at about an hour bus ride, as compared to about 2 hours on a bus to Bemidji, but it's all 2 lane Hwy to Bji, and there are/will be more hotels here in case they wanted to keep a team in town overnight).

As to the WCHA teams, and scheduling, the best so far (back to BSU's first D-I season - '99-'00) have been Mankato, and UMD, playing the Beavers every season. UND has played every few years (and been more consistant of late), and SCSU has just rejoined the schedule last year (BSU coach Tom Serratore and current Huskie coach Bob Motzko are best friends, so I assume that will continue). BSU has also played UMinn a few times, and the Colorado schools a few times as well, plus Tech once in Houghton (but they're due to return to Bji this comming year). All-in-all, not bad for the W schools.

It still would be nice to get Wisconsin on the schedule (even though they beat up on the Beavs on their way to a National Title a few years ago in the NCAA Regionals), and I personally think it would be neat to play at UAA (especially since I can't see having them waste a N/C game to come here - I really think it would be neat to get into that Frontier Classic they have...)

Moose

[no97]

Still no formal budget unvieled (looks like cost estimates might be a couple weeks away), but another article from the Bemidji Pioneer today indicates that the City Council would prefer to keep closer to the $50 million figure.

Also, that article has 2 new renderings, as they try to cut costs. The first is a scaled back version of the April rendering:

The other image is a redesign of the exterior:

I personally prefer the origional April version myself...

Moose

[no97]

Today's Bemidji Pioneer article says the *total cost* of the south shore redevelopment (including the Bemidji Regional Events Center) would cost approximatly $90.68 million. Note that the total cost includes the BREC, plus 100 acres of retail and mixed use housing (plus associated parking/etc.)

Moose

[no97]

By a 4-3 margin, the Bemidji City Council has voted to move forward with the south shore redevelopment at $90.68 mil. Huge step foreward, as a no vote could have stalled the BREC.

And here's the Bemidji Pioneer article.

Also available, the presentation from last night (PDF) (with another tweak of ther rendering), and a summary (PDF)

Moose

[no97]

Dragging this back to the top. The recent election locally was a sort of "second referendum" on this project (remember that 4-3 margin I mentioned above - well, three City Council spots plus the Mayor were up for either election or re-election last Tuesday). Bottem line, the city voted in all the candidates that supported the Events Center. Here's the web-site with the current plan:

http://www.bemidjievents.com/plans.html

I don't know how to post off a PDF, so click the site above for the rest of the pics. Ground-breaking is set for the generic "spring," (BSU is hosting the CHA Tourney (if you don't know, or follow college hockey - that's College Hockey America, Bemidji State's conference), so I'd like to see something that weekend, but the ground sure could still be frozen the first weekend of March) with grand opening targeted for January 2011. ...

Moose

[Joshawaggie]

Moose, you been hearing the reports of an WCHA realignment with BSU and Omaha (12 teams total) going to the WCHA? Sounds like it's something that's being talked about recently. Having this new facility sure would be nice in the WCHA.

[no97]

Moose, you been hearing the reports of an WCHA realignment with BSU and Omaha (12 teams total) going to the WCHA? Sounds like it's something that's being talked about recently. Having this new facility sure would be nice in the WCHA.

I assume you're talking about this:

Denver Post blog

College hockey conference realignment

by Mike Chambers on November 8, 2008

Conference expansion is on its way, folks. Because of the looming demise of College Hockey America, don?t be surprised if the Western Collegiate Hockey Association and the Atlantic Hockey Association go from 10 to 12 teams, with Bemidji State and Nebraska-Omaha joining the WCHA and Robert Morris and Niagara going to the AHA.

This isn?t just opinon. In true blog form, I can?t divulge my sources at this time because things are too political ? which is why this issue won?t make the paper right now ? but this is what is being discussed by conference commissioners. And it makes sense.

CHA currently has Robert Morris, Alabama-Huntsville, Niagara and Bemidji State. It?s a joke, because the four-team conference gets an automatic berth to the NCAA Tournament for its playoff champion, and judging from history, teams in other conferences with far better numbers in the Pairwise Rankings get left out. That?s going to change.

Robert Morris and Niagara have applied for entrance to the AHA. If they are accepted, the AHA will go from 10 to 12 teams.

What we need next ? and this is the big one ? is for Nebraska-Omaha to apply to the WCHA, and get accepted along with Bemidji State, which previously applied and is a terrific fit. UNO, which currently plays in the CCHA, will be replaced by Alabama-Huntsville.

UNO is a natural fit for the WCHA, with strong state rivalries with Colorado and Minnesota. Alabama-Huntsville isn?t a fit for anyone, but ? if UAH goes to the CCHA, we would have five conferences with a near equal amount of teams.

The WCHA, CCHA, AHA and ECAC would have 12 teams, and Hockey East 10. Under this plan, there would be five automatic bids to the 16-team national tournament for winning conference titles, leaving 11 at-large berths based solely on the NCAA?s version of the Pairwise.

From a Colorado standpoint, I have an alternative scenerio, and this might be easier to get done: upstart Air Force joins the WCHA along with Bemidji State, UNO stays in the CCHA and Alabama-Huntsville replaces AF in the AHA.

Problem is, Air Force can?t sign Canadians or Europeans, which might make life in the WCHA extremely difficult, and the Cadet Ice Arena is the kind of venue the WCHA is getting away from. Also, Air Force wouldn?t be the kind of revenue team the WCHA seeks, unless the program commits to building a new arena or expands its current barn.

But make no mistake, the Falcons have potential. They are flying these days, proving time and again they can compete with the big boys. And certainly, Air Force?s recruiting landscape would grow, and Colorado Springs is a hockey hotbed.

I don't have a problem with either scenerio. I think it's all speculation at this point, but do think there will be movement at some point.

Moose

[no97]

Time to update. This building is set to open one week from today with a "select-a-seat" night for season ticket holders, then a week from Thursday, it's a "Green and White" scrimmage. Finally, the building opens for real with four hockey games (the women host Mercyhurst and the men host North Dakota) and a concert two weeks from Friday, October 15.

Here's a web-cam if you want to see, but there is no archive, so you can just see what it looks like right now.

Here's the Facebook fan page, which has some very nice photo galleries of construction.

[no97]

Yesterday was the ribbon-cutting, and they had a BSU scrimmage as well. Here's a photo gallery from the local paper:

http://www.bemidjipioneer.com/event/photogallery/id/397/

The first game is Friday (10/15) - the women at 2 and the men at 7:30...

[BBTV]

Arena looks great. Pardon the question, but not knowing anything about Bemidji, I did a quick Wikipedia lookup. Is the population really 13,000? Isn't a multi-million dollar 4,000 seat arena a little much? Or does that population number not accurate?

[no97]

No, it's accurate. One of the things about the city limits is that they really don't cover what you would consider "Bemidji proper." As an example, I live on the north end of the city limits (in fact, it's about a block away), but Bemidji proper continues for a few miles further north. So, take the 13,000, add in around 15,000 that live in the "collar townships," and within maybe a five to ten mile radius, it's a lot closer to 30,000. If you extend it out to about 60-90 miles (which isn't that far to drive in rural America depending on what you're going to see), you likely have 100,000 people (if you can't tell, I've had to explain this to several people before ).

[TopCat]

I'll have to make a trip up there some time. GO HUSKIES!

[no97]

Here are some pics I took at last night's game vs. North Dakota:

http://picasaweb.google.com/moosenb/20101016#