Capitol Review
Mendota Heights Representative Pushes Spending for Safer Ice Arena Air
Ice arenas could receive money for better HVAC systems through the Mighty Ducks program.
Rep. Rick Hansen (D-South St. Paul) presented a bill last week to help Minnesota ice arenas pay for repairs and upgrades to their HVAC systems. Bad air inside ice arenas has made the news a number of times in recent years. Last year, Linda Davis, a West St. Paul figure skater, testified to a health committee that she was poisoned by carbon monoxide in ice arena air and now undergoes daily oxygen treatment. Minnesota passed rules in the '70s regulating sports facility air quality standards. This would help facilities pay for the upgrades necessary to meet those standards, said South St. Paul's Wakota Ice Arena manager, Jayson Dwelle, who testified in favor of Hansen's bill last week. HF684, which has been rewritten since last year's debut…
Donald Lee
7:27 pm on Tuesday, February 21, 2012
May I ask what is special about ice arenas that state taxpayers should pay for this upgrade? If not special, doesn't this spending end up without clear limit? If I have another type of facility - say a roller rink or VFW hall, what makes a skating rink worthy of state tax funds, and not my facility? more ›