The Northeast Ice Arena, approaching its 30th year of operation, is one of two remaining indoor ice rinks operated by the Minneapolis Parks and Recreation Board. (Mark Peterson)
In February, the Minneapolis Park & Recreation Board (MPRB) announced that due to what was called a “major mechanical failure,” the 2025-2026 ice rink season at the Northeast Ice Arena would be cut short a few weeks before its usual March 1st closing. The Arena’s turf season, including soccer and lacrosse, opened on schedule.
MPRB Director of Athletics, Aquatics, Ice Arenas and Golf Jack Bartsh said the issue involves a failure within the refrigeration system and related mechanical components. New compressors and a capacitor are on order and the arena plans to make ice again this fall. There is no final repair estimate at this time, and other scheduled activities and rentals at the facility are continuing.
This happened as the building was entering its 30th year as one of the two remaining MPRB-operated indoor ice rinks in Minneapolis.
Before the mid-nineties, Edison High School hockey players used the Columbia Arena at 70th and University Avenues in Fridley, some distance from the school itself. EYHA (Edison Youth Hockey Association), a nonprofit group promoting youth hockey in the Edison High School district, proposed a new arena closer to the school.
In 1997, EYHA partnered with the City of Minneapolis and local fundraisers to build the $2.2 million Edison Ice Arena (now known as the Northeast Ice Arena) at its current Central Avenue location.
The City provided the land for the building and guaranteed a loan for slightly more than $1 million. EYHA raised about $800,000 from pull tab revenue from three Northeast bars. Other grants were secured for additional $400,000.
The Arena served its first 18 years as home for the Edison High School hockey team before opening to the public in 2015, but the journey was not without financial difficulties. In 2004, the EYHA, which had counted on charitable gambling proceeds, was in default on its payments on the building’s loan, largely because of an area-wide decline in pull-tab revenue (partly blamed on changes of bar ownership and smoking bans).
At that time, the MPRB was operating the only other indoor public rink in the city, the Parade Ice Garden, on Kenwood Parkway. It was decided that a second indoor city rink could be kept open and managed through the Parade arena office.
At the same time, the the Columbia Arena was heading towards its closing, and some felt that a new NE indoor rink could absorb some of the demand from Heights skaters. Ultimately, with the opening of suburban rinks and a state tax increase, funding reductions forced the city to cover the original loan. MPRB bought the arena for the remainder of the EYHA loan (about $750,000), which was one-third of the facility’s original cost.
After its acquisition in 2006, it was renamed the Northeast Ice Arena, reflecting its new location. At that time, the useful life of the building was estimated to be another fifteen years before major repairs would be needed. In 2009, the Columbia Arena closed, and was demolished a few years later.
If any one person could be identified as the dealmaker for this project, it would be Walt Dziedzic. Dziedzic was a First Ward Alderman/City Council Member for 22 years and a Park Board member, representing the city’s east side, for 12 years.
Dziedzic, himself a high school and college hockey player, firmly believed in the project but felt that it could not have gone forward without pull-tab revenue. He moved the project through the city as a City Council member and served as a Parks Commissioner when MPRB bought the property in 2006.
Walt Dziedzic, a 22-year Minneapolis City Council member, helped bring the Northeast Ice Arena to fruition. (Mark Peterson)
Years later, Dziedzic said he was sad about the disappearance of city skating rinks and the fading popularity of ice hockey. “I thought I could revive ice hockey in the city, but not enough kids are skating,” he said. “Too many of them are playing on computers. That’s why you have the obesity crisis.”
Joe Dziedzic, one of the family’s six children, is similarly invested in hockey. His early youth skating at the Columbia Heights Ice Arena and the Parade Ice Garden led to the Edison High School hockey team (1986-1990), and playing professional hockey with the Pittsburgh Penguins around the time the proposals for a new arena were being considered.
Joe recalled of rumors of a possible new rink in Northeast, noting, “The Edison Youth Hockey Association was consistently meeting with my dad about the planning of the rink, fundraising options and all of the nuances of getting a rink built. Like most big projects, there were unexpected expenses and hurdles that they had to work through.”
He currently runs JD Hockey, a training business working with AAA teams, camps and leagues. He also coaches the high school hockey team at Breck, after 13 years coaching high school teams in Minneapolis.
The Northeast Ice Arena continues to serve as home ice for the Herb Brooks Foundation’s ‘Learn to Play’ and ‘Learn to Skate’ free Rink Rats hockey programs. It also serves the Minneapolis Boys and Girls JV and Varsity High School teams, the Minneapolis Storm and Minneapolis Titans Youth Hockey Associations, the City of Lakes Youth Hockey Association and other local community hockey programs.
Joe agreed with his father’s belief that if kids were busy with sports, “It would help keep them from too much free time and possible trouble. My father took pride in getting things built whether it the ice rink on Central or the Quarry Shopping Center, he spent a lot of time and energy to get those projects built in this area.”