UConn’s board of trustees could vote Wednesday on a financing plan to build a $45 million, 2,500-seat hockey arena at its Storrs campus.
The trustees last month authorized moving the project forward and two board committees approved the financing plan at a joint meeting Monday. A presentation will be given to the 21-member board on Wednesday, and the board can decide to vote on the financial terms that would allow UConn to fund the arena through a public/private partnership.
Under the financing plan, the school will use $12.5 million from its reserves, recouping that money through fundraising and philanthropy. The school says $10 million will be used from revenues derived from property sales of its former West Hartford campus and the Nathan Hale Inn.
The remaining $22.5 million will be covered through debt financing. UConn is currently seeking a developer to design, build, own and operate the new rink through tax-exempt financing. UConn and the developer will then ink a 30-year lease to repay the bonds at about $1.2 million a year.
If approved, the new rink would be built adjacent to the Freitas Ice Forum, current home to some of the UConn men’s hockey games and all of the women’s hockey games. The men’s team has played almost all home games at Hartford’s XL Center since it joined the Hockey East conference in 2014.
UConn is required to replace the Freitas Ice Forum, a 1,650-seat arena built in 1998 because it doesn’t meet Hockey East standards, which require all teams to have an on-campus rink with at least 4,000 seats. The conference has granted UConn a waiver to provide less than the minimum seat requirement partly because the school draws strong attendance at the XL Center, school officials said.
A study of the Freitas Ice Forum shows the facility cannot be expanded to meet Hockey East and NCAA Division I requirements, plans show.
The new hockey rink will host all women’s hockey games and some of the men’s games. However, UConn men’s hockey will also continue playing the majority of their games in Hartford.
Plans show the on-campus arena would include several locker rooms, coaches’ offices, a scoreboard with video replay capability and 750 parking spaces.
The arena could host its first games in fall 2021 following 18 months of construction. UConn and a developer would spend the next year-plus in the design, permitting and bidding phase.
The UConn men’s hockey team is 3-2-1 this season, hosting two games at the XL Center. The women’s team is 5-3-1 and has hosted all four home games at the forum.
Correction: A previous version of this story incorrectly said UConn’s board of trustees was scheduled to vote Wednesday on the proposed arena. The board may choose to vote on the arena’s financing plan after hearing a presentation on the project.
