Oral offer on the table for Bergwall Arena

The Red Wing School District received an oral offer Tuesday from the Southeast Technical College Foundation to buy Bergwall Arena.

Red Wing Finance Director Brad Johnson said the foundation -- an entity separate from the college, but working on the college's behalf -- offered the school district $900,000 for Bergwall.

Johnson said a written offer will be presented to the School Board on June 20 for action.

Though the school district has been aware of the Minnesota State College-Southeast Technical 's desire to buy the building for years, the sale depended largely on funding the college received from the Legislature.

But this past year the college found an alternative funding source -- in the form of the foundation -- that would fund the sale.

Serious talks began in February, when Southeast Tech President Jim Johnson and Finance Director Mike Kroening approached the School Board with their intention to buy the arena.

Southeast Tech plans on tearing Bergwall down to expand its Allied Health program.

Though the details are yet to be worked out, it was discussed in February that following a sale of the arena the school district will lease the building from the college for up to three years. During this time, the district would continue to operate the building, but would make no repairs to the aging arena.

This would give the district a second sheet of ice - in addition to Prairie Island Arena - to use for athletics until other plans could be made.

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