The new Ames/ISU ice arena is entering the next stage in its development.

Ames Parks and Recreation Director Nancy Carroll said draft agreements for the $3.8 million joint Iowa State and Ames project will be in front of the Ames City Council and the Iowa State Board of Regents soon.

If these agreements are approved by both governing bodies, Ames and ISU will start looking for construction contract bids.

The agreement is separated into three parts, Carroll said, all outlining different areas of the new ice arena’s construction.

The first agreement outlines who will be in charge of running the ice arena once it opens.

“Under the agreement planned, the City of Ames would be in control of the operation and the management of the facility,” Carroll said. “Nothing there will change because that is the way it is working now.”

The second element of the draft plan is the development agreement. This will sort out who is going to be bidding the contracts and who will oversee the building’s construction, Carroll said.

“That’s going to be right down the middle, 50-50,” she said. “And that is a change from before, when it used to be all the city’s responsibility.”

The third part is the easement agreement, which is necessary to allow a city-operated facility on university-owned land.

“There’s got to be something in writing that says, ‘Yes, the university owns this land, and they’re OK with the city being on it,'” Carroll said.

The three agreements will come before the city council next month.

Judie Hoffman, Ames city councilwoman, said “when [the agreements] come in front of us, I’m sure we’ll approve it.”

Carroll did not know when the plans would be presented to the Board of Regents, but she speculated that it would be soon.

“I would hope that it wouldn’t be too long because we’d like to start getting going with the construction,” she said.

Carroll said the earliest crews could hope to break ground on the new ice facility would be this fall.

She also said no matter what, the new rink would not be ready before the end of the 1999-2000 school year.