Rosemount Built to Play: Ice Arena and Central Park Plans

What happened to the parks plan Rosemount voters turned down ten years ago?

In May 2016, a $15 million bond referendum asked voters to pay for four Parks and Recreation projects, including an ice arena addition, soccer-sized fields and youth baseball fields. It failed. The list came back in September 2026 under a new name, "Built to Play." It's much bigger now, and it's moving through a process that doesn't include a vote.

On Sept. 15, the Rosemount City Council and the city's Port Authority approved creating Industrial Development District No. 2. The district can finance up to $75 million in bonds for a two-sheet ice arena, a full-size baseball field and other park projects, as Sun Thisweek reported. A public hearing is tentatively set for Tuesday, Oct. 20, at 6 p.m. at City Hall. The city has said bonds won't be sold and projects won't move forward until after that hearing.

The 2016 list, side by side with the 2026 version

The same needs show up in both proposals. Ice and youth ballfields were on the 2016 ballot, and they're the core of the 2026 plan.

The ice arena is the piece the rest of the plan is built around, so it's worth understanding why the city says it needs one.

Rosemount hockey families already drive to other towns' rinks

Rosemount has one full-size sheet of ice, at the Rosemount Community Center Ice Arena. The Rosemount Area Hockey Association's ice scheduling page says that rink supplied about 40% of the association's ice hours during the 2025–26 season. Those hours were split among 26 traveling teams and 12 initiation teams, and the same sheet also hosts four high school teams and the Icettes figure skating club.

The association makes up the rest with more than 800 contracted hours at rinks in Inver Grove Heights and Woodbury, plus scattered hours at other arenas. It also says expanding the Community Center rink was judged infeasible. That's a key change since 2016, when the ballot item was an addition. The 2026 plan starts over at a new site.

That site is northeast of County Road 46/160th Street and Highway 3. The city says a land swap to acquire it is underway, the design is 60% complete, contractor bids are expected this fall, and initial earthwork could start in late fall 2026. The city describes the goal as letting Rosemount athletes practice closer to home and making it possible to host tournaments. Two youth softball and baseball amenities would be designed and built at the same location as part of the arena project.

Central Park and Erickson Park are tied together

Most of the other projects are scheduled for 2027. Here's how they line up, based on the city's Built to Play StoryMap, published Sept. 23:

Erickson Park depends on Central Park. The remodel would remove on-street parking along Brazil Avenue and move it into new lots, and those lots are built as part of the Central Park remodel. Erickson would also get ADA accessibility upgrades, better irrigation, new backstops, covered dugouts, batting cages and new baseline fencing, with the fields reworked for youth tournaments.

The Erickson change also connects back to the ice. Both moves shift capacity toward youth programs and tournament hosting, the same need the 2016 referendum tried to address with a smaller budget.

Why there's no ballot this time

The financing tool explains why voters aren't weighing in directly. Because the Port Authority is the financier, the bonds are issued through the development district. The district runs from Connemara Trail south to 160th Street, and from Highway 3 east to Akron Avenue, including a portion south of Dakota County Technical College. The city says parts of that area have seen limited or no development in recent years and have long been targeted for economic development.

City Administrator Logan Martin said the district is not subject to a "reverse referendum," the petition process that can force a bond measure to a public vote. At the open house, Mayor Jeff Weisensel described Built to Play as economic development. He said a public road planned near the arena and ballfields would open up landlocked parcels, and that the landowner has told the city it wants to develop them.

What the city projects for a typical household

The reported dollar figures don't fully agree, so here is exactly what's been published.

• Total authorized: up to $75 million through the district, per the Sept. 15 coverage.
• Bond issue described after the open house: $73 million, split into $62.6 million for Built to Play through a Port Authority bond and $14.2 million for fire department projects, including a new fire truck and improvements at Fire Station 2. The fire portion goes through a separate city bonding process.
• The mismatch: $62.6 million plus $14.2 million is $76.8 million, not $73 million. The article doesn't explain the difference.
• Projected tax impact: the city projects increases to repay the bonds of $75 for the first four years and $20 for the following two years on an average-value home, starting in 2028. The coverage doesn't say whether those amounts are annual. Council Member Paul Theisen described the parks project as "the equivalent of $7 a month," which works out to about $84 a year.

Weisensel said the council spread the increase over six years so taxpayers could "take little bites and absorb that." Your own number depends on your property's value. The hearing is the place to ask the city how the projection applies to a specific home.

Reaction at the Sept. 24 open house went both ways. Sun Thisweek quoted an attendee who said that without upgrades, Rosemount would be "just going to be one giant subdivision." Another attendee said she expected young kids to enjoy the splash pad and the hockey association to love the arena, but questioned whether the town has the restaurants and retail to support hockey rinks. Theisen answered that point by arguing the parks would bring visitors from other communities to Rosemount.

The next two weeks at City Hall and Central Park

• Tuesday, Oct. 20, 6 p.m.: public hearing at City Hall on Industrial Development District No. 2, the related projects, and the bond ordinance. The time is listed as tentative.
• Background before the hearing: the city's Built to Play page at rosemountmn.gov/965/Built-to-Play, the StoryMap above, and the recording of the open house special meeting on the city's citizen portal and YouTube channel.
• Saturday, Oct. 24, 6 to 8 p.m.: the 44th Annual Halloween Haunted Trail at Central Park, 2893 145th Street West. It's free, and organizers are asking for food donations for the Rosemount Family Resource Center and 360 Communities.

Under the current schedule, the Haunted Trail lands in the last fall season before Phase 1 work on the Central Park Garage begins in March 2027.

If you live near Central Park, Erickson Park or the Highway 3 and County Road 46 corner and want to talk through how Built to Play's timeline might fit with plans for your own home, Tom Bullington Homes is glad to go over what the city has published and what the Oct. 20 hearing decides. Let's Connect.

This article is general information, not legal, tax or financial advice. Consult a qualified professional about your situation.