At tonight’s meeting, the Ames City Council will vote on a three-part agreement reached by the city and Iowa State regarding the construction of the new ice arena to be built in the next couple of years.

Negotiations between Ames City Manager Steve Schainker and Iowa State Vice President for Business and Finance Warren Madden have been taking place for nearly 15 months, Schainker said.

“The city and university reached agreements on three contracts, allowing the plans to proceed,” Schainker said.

The finalized plans were approved by the Board of Regents last week, said Nancy Carroll, director of parks and recreation for the city of Ames.

The three contracts are an easement agreement, a development agreement and a joint-use agreement.

“The easement agreement deals with describing the land area. Legal authority is needed to go on the site,” Madden said.

The easement agreement also establishes joint ownership of the building, and because the land is university-owned, the agreement calls for a lease to the city, Schainker said.

The agreement required approval of the Iowa Executive Council, which was granted Monday morning, Madden said.

“It has been approved by all of the university now. We have the right to go onto the area,” Madden said.

The development agreement “outlines the procedures used to build the building itself,” Schainker said.

Both the city and the university will retain the rights to approve which architect is chosen for the project, the design of the building, the contracts for construction and all change orders that arise during the construction process, Schainker said.

The budgeted $3.7 million in expenditures is outlined in the development agreement, Madden said.

Once the new ice arena is constructed, “the joint use agreement authorizes the city to be the exclusive manager and administer of the building as long as the ice arena is standing,” Schainker said.

“This is a 30-year agreement with options to renew. We have projected a 30-year life of the building,” Madden said.

The joint use agreement deals with how the ice arena will be operated, Carroll said.

“The joint use agreement is basically the same as the ice arena has been run the past 15 years,” Schainker said.

RDG Bussard Dikis and Bonestroo Rosene Anderlick and Associates have been chosen to design the building, Carroll said.

The Board of Regents approved the designated architect, but the city council has yet to vote, Madden said.

“[Tonight] the city council will approve the three agreements, and the subsequent meeting will include the approval of an architect,” Schainker said.

Meetings will be scheduled in June to begin the actual design of the building, Madden said.

Based on the designs of the building, the city and the university will consider bids from construction companies, Schainker said.

In March 1998, the Ames community approved a bond issue providing $1.7 million to construct the new facility. Another $1.7 million will be channeled from ISU student fees. The remainder of the $3.7 budget is comprised of $300,000 in private contributions through the ISU Foundation.

Construction of the 37,000 square foot ice arena is scheduled to begin in the spring of 2000 and is predicted to be completed by the fall of 2000, Carroll said.

“It is an aggressive schedule, but we hope to have it in use for the fall of 2000 ice season,” Madden said.

The arena is expected to seat 1,000 people, Carroll said.

The location of the building has yet to be determined, Schainker said.

“It will be either immediately west or north of the current site. This is so we can take advantage of the existing parking lot,” Schainker said.

After reviewing the area surrounding the standing arena, the architects will make a suggestion on the best site to build the new structure, Schainker said.

“The building will be built within the general area adjacent to the current site. It will only be a matter of a few feet one way or the other,” Madden said.

The city and the university will mutually approve the recommendation from the architects.