Facilities
| Bush Lake Ski Jump |
Bloomington, Minnesota
Hyland Park Reserve in Bloomington has long been the site
of an active ski jumping community. The new Bush Lake Jump, which opened
in January of 2000, has add a new 70-meter jump to the selection of
smaller jumps already in use. The new 70-meter jump replaces an old
40-meter jump, and joins 10- and 30-meter hills. The complex of jumps
provides a first-class training and event-hosting site for jumpers
of all ages and development. The State investment funded the construction
of the foundation, steel scaffolding, and timber decking for the jump.
The Minneapolis Ski Club contributed cash and in-kind services totaling
more than $250,000 to complete the jump. State Investment: $500,000 (1996) Current Financial Operation: Facility Specifications: 70-meter ski jump Sports and Activities Served: Ski jumping, Nordic combined |
| Giants Ridge Golf & Ski Resort |
Biwabik, Minnesota
Giants Ridge continues its maturation as a major four-season destination recreational sports facility. The acclaimed $6 million 18-hole golf course, The Legend, designed by Lanny Wadkins, has played to nearly full capacity, with 50% of the golfers coming from out-of-state. The success of the original course spurred the construction of a second 18-hole course, which opened in 2002. During the winter months 15% of the total number of skiers coming from out-of-state. Giants Ridge is the only MASC
facility that produces a significant out-of-state economic impact from
daily individual users. State Investment Current Financial Operation Facility Specifications Sports and Activities Served |
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| Guidant John Rose Minnesota OVAL |
Roseville, Minnesota
The Guidant John Rose Minnesota OVAL opened late in 1993, and it has established itself as one of Minnesota’s most visible venues
for national and international events. |
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| Minneapolis Sports Center |
Minneapolis, Minnesota
The Minneapolis Sports Center is a collaborative effort
between the MASC, the Minneapolis Public Schools and the Midtown
YWCA. Located adjacent to South High School on Lake Street in Minneapolis,
the facility provides athletic training facilities to under-served
urban youth.
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| National Hockey Center |
St. Cloud, Minnesota
Home of the St. Cloud State Huskies, the National Hockey
Center supports not only the men’s and women’s SCSU ice
hockey teams, but numerous campus and community programs as well. The
facility has hosted numerious USA Hockey National age-group festivals and training camps and was a venue for preliminary round games of the 2001 Women's World Hockey Championships. |
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| National Sports Center |
Blaine, Minnesota
The National Sports Center opened in 1990. The facility was built by the State of Minnesota as part of a statewide building program to improve Minnesota’s amateur sports facilities. The current 600-acre campus, the world’s largest, bears only a faint resemblance to the facility that opened in 1990. The original complex had less than 30 soccer fields, the cycling velodrome, residence hall, stadium and sports hall. By 1994, the NSC had developed over 50 fields by purchasing land north of 105th Avenue. The Schwan Super Rink opened in October of 1998, the National Youth Golf Center opened in phases between 2000-2004 and the Schwan Center opened in April 2005. The newest expansion at the National Sports Center is at the Schwan Super Rink, where four additional sheets of ice were added in the fall of 2006, making the eight-sheet ice arena the world’s largest. Even though most of the facility development and land purchases were made with State of Minnesota funding, the facility is operated by a non-profit corporation, the National Sports Center Foundation (NSCF). The NSCF operates the facility on a self-supporting basis. State funds were used to build the facility, but no operating subsidy is provided. The original state investment was $14.7 million, and to date the State has invested just over $20 million in the NSC campus. Since 2000 however, the NSC Foundation has financed the majority of an ambitious construction phase through private investment. About 2/3 of the new National Youth Golf Center was financed privately, as was 100% of the construction of four new sheets of ice at the Schwan Super Rink, and a portion of the development of the Schwan Center meeting and events facility. The Schwan Super Rink was funded by a cooperative of eleven local governmental partners along with the Minnesota Amateur Sports Commission (MASC). The partners include the cities of Arden Hills, Blaine, Centerville, Circle Pines, Coon Rapids, Lino Lakes, Mounds View, New Brighton, Shoreview, as well as Ramsey and Anoka Counties. Total construction cost was $11 million. The $10 million Super Rink expansion was also built with non-state money. Partners include Centennial, Blaine and Tri-City Youth Hockey Associations, the Herb Brooks Foundation and Bethel University, all of which made an initial investment and then pay off the construction bonds through the sales of ice time. Since opening its doors, the NSC has hosted over 22 million visitors. In 2008, 3.7 million people visited the campus, making it Minnesota's most visited sports facility – more than the Metrodome, Target Center or Xcel Energy Center. The NSC has always had a dual mission:
State Investment $14.7 million (1987) $.4 million (1992) $.119 million (1994) $1.7 million (1998) $3.1 million (1998) $.3 million (1999) Current Financial Operation Facility Specifications
Sports and Activities Served National Sports Center 1700 - 105th Ave NE Blaine, MN 55449 (p) 763.785.5600 (f) 763.785.5699 E-mail: nsceventservices@nscsports.org NSC Web Site: http://www.nscsports.org Schwan's USA CUP Home Page: http://www.usacup.org |
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| National Volleyball Center |
Rochester, Minnesota
The $4.6 million National Volleyball Center opened in September 1998. The Center is winning raves as one of the finest volleyball facilities in the world. It is unique in that it was built to the highest standards required by world-class volleyball players, with high ceilings, spacious off-court clearances, Olympic quality lighting and a suspended wood Bio-Cushion II floor. To date, the NVC has hosted volleyball tournaments, practices,
league games, youth camps and an increasing number of major college
volleyball events. Other sports including basketball, indoor soccer,
cheerleading, and high school physical education classes have also tested
the new facility. Current Financial Operation Facility Specifications Sports and Activities Served National Volleyball Center 2601 Viola Road NE Rochester, MN 55901 (f) 507.328.5200 E-mail: nvc@ci.rochester.mn.us Web Site: http://www.rochestermn.gov/departments/park/facilities/index.asp Darla Heikes, Volleyball Coordinator E-mail: dheikes@rochestermn.gov |
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| St. Louis River Outpost Whitewater Center |
Carlton, Minnesota
The St. Louis River Outpost Whitewater Center continues to be a favorite site for all whitewater sports. From local beginners to Olympic-caliber paddlers, the varied terrain of the St. Louis River above and below the Thompson Dam offer different levels of difficulty. The University of Minnesota-Duluth Outdoor Program operates the Outpost Visitor Center at Jay Cooke State Park. This natural log structure serves as a staging location for classes, clinics, and competition events. The new interest in whitewater “rodeo” events
has helped boost usership at the Kayak Center. Called “park and
play” paddling (as opposed to longer downriver runs), the Kayak
Center has proven to be a ideal site for rodeo paddling. Current Financial Operation Facility Specifications Sports and Activities Served St. Louis River Outpost Whitewater Center University of Minnesota Duluth Outdoor Program 121 Sports and Health Center 10 University Drive Duluth, MN 55812-2496 (p) 218.726.6177 Web Site: http://www.umdrsop.org E-mail: carlso6@d.umn.edu Randy Carlson, Manager |
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| Ole Mangseth Memorial Ski Jump |
Coleraine, Minnesota
With the assistance of $130,000 in funding from the MASC, the Ole Mangseth Ski Jump was outfitted with plastic mats to allow for ski jump training and competition during the non-snow months. Since this addition was completed in 1999, usership and economic impact at the facility have increased significantly. Athletes from throughout the U.S. have trained in Coleraine for extended periods of time – at formal training camps lasting as long as ten days. Both the U.S. National Ski Jump Team and the Nordic Combined Development Team trained at the facility in the past two years. The jump has hosted an impressive list of present and past
U.S. Olympic jumpers, including Jim Maki, Jim Denney, Jim Grahek, Brian
Sanders, Mike Keuler, and Casey Colby. Current Financial Operation Facility Specifications Sports and Activities Served Mt Itasca Winter Sports Center 200 Mt Itasca Dr, PO Box 553 Coleraine, MN 55722 (p) 218.744.7400 or (p) 218.328.5148 Sue Denney, Ski Jumping Program Director, 218.326.9347 Email: sdenney@mchsi.com Website: http://www.mtitasca.com |
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| Range Recreation Civic Center |
Eveleth, Minnesota
By working together, the Quad cities of Virginia, Eveleth, Mountain Iron and Gilbert, built the Range Recreation Civic Center, with support from the Minnesota Amateur Sports Commission. The primary winter use of this facility is curling. As curling is now an Olympic event, the United States Curling Association supports this facility as a National Training Center. The facility is capable of hosting national and regional championships. The 25,000 square feet of indoor space is also a busy venue for trade and car shows, concerts, receptions and conventions From the middle of December to the end of March, Curl Mesabi,
the resident curling club, hosted an event every weekend and leagues
every weekday. Current Financial Operation Facility Specifications Sports and Activities Served Range Recreation Civic Center 901 Hat Trick Avenue Eleveth, MN 55734 (p) 218.744.1302 Email: curling@curlmesabi.com Website: http://www.curlmesabi.com |
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| University of Minnesota Aquatic Center |
Minneapolis, Minnesota
The University of Minnesota Aquatic Center, located east of Cooke Hall on the Minneapolis campus, was built in 1990. It was fashioned to meet or exceed Olympic standards so that it could host major swimming and diving events. Nearly two acres in size, the Aquatic Center houses the Dorothy L. Sheppard Pool, a 50-meter competition pool, eight lanes wide and eight feet deep, with a movable bulkhead. The separate diving well features a pair of one-and three-meter boards, as well as 1, 5, 7.5 and 10-meter diving platforms. In addition to the 1,346 permanent seats, there is room for 1,200 temporary bleachers. In 2005, the Aquatic Center added a new state-of-the-art video display system completed at a cost of $250,000. The 21-foot by 10-foot digital video display is the largest permanent video installation in an aquatic facility in the United States. The Aquatic Center has been the site for some of the top swimming and diving events in the country: nine Big Ten Championships, six NCAA Championships, many national and international competitions and countless Minnesota State High School Championships. The Aquatic Center was the site of the Men’s Big Ten Championships and hosted the meet again in 1994, 1998, 2001 and 2005. The Women’s Big Ten meet has been held at the Aquatics Center four times, in 1991, 1996, 1999 and 2004. The Aquatic Center also hosted the Phillips 66 USS National Championships in 1998 and 2002, and was the site of the U.S. Open in 2003. The Men’s NCAA Swimming and Diving Championships were held for the first time in 1994, and again in 1997, 2000, 2005 and 2007. State Investment Current Financial Operation
Sports and Activities Served University of Minnesota Aquatic Center 100 Cooke Hall 1900 University Ave. SE Minneapolis, MN 55455 (p) 612.626.1352 (f) 612.626.7708 Duane J. Proell, Associate Director Aquatics |
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