CASPER, Wyo. — User groups seeking to add a second sheet of ice at the Casper Ice Arena via a public–private partnership have reportedly secured more than $2 million in private funding commitments.
During a Wednesday, May 24 council budget work session, Casper City Council members decided on a $3.2 million match for the expansion project after Parks, Recreation and Public Facilities Director Zulima Lopez updated councilors on a local hockey group’s fundraising efforts.
“They have firm commitments of over $2 million at this point, and expect that amount to grow pretty rapidly,” Lopez said.
In 2022, the council received a feasibility study and trade models that demonstrated how construction of a second sheet of ice at the Casper Ice Arena could eliminate the annual operating subsidy for the ice arena fund. In January, members of the council unanimously indicated they were in favor of the city contributing $3–$4.4 million toward construction of a second sheet of ice, with junior hockey facilities estimated at just about $13.2 million. Any city contribution is contingent on whether private donors can raise the balance of funds needed to build the project within 18 months.
“We want the council to pin down the range set and talk about how to fund that amount,” City Manager Carter Napier said at the budget work session.
Mayor Bruce Knell was quick to lend his support to the project.
“For a city asset that eventually will bring our [ice arena] subsidy well into zero, this is a wonderful investment for us,” he said, describing the facility as one of the city’s most expensive subsidies.
Considering the user groups’ progress of private fundraising and its plans to work with a fundraising professional, the council set the city’s contribution at $3.2 million.
Napier said that while he would struggle to find $4.4 million in the city budget, he could readily gather $3 million from a variety of pots, the majority coming from a capital asset fund.
Formal approval of the city’s investment in the project has yet to occur.
Although design costs will be split with the user group, Lopez sought council approval to solicit proposals for the project design using the city’s funding portion. Proceeding with design will expedite construction when the full donor commitment is secured and avoid delays that could result in higher construction costs, she said.
Read details about the Casper Ice Arena Expansion Funding and Design memo here:
