In an article written by Frederick Melo, The St. Paul Pioneer Press reported that The City of St. Paul may close 8 of its 31 ice rinks under the proposed 2020-2021 budget. This is the result of the Mayor Melvin Carter’s administration asking St. Paul Parks and Recreation to find $1.3 million in budget cuts for next year.
The Carter Administration is reportedly trying to rebalance the 2021 city budget without laying off city staff, increasing property taxes, or dipping into city reserves. The idea is to make cuts “across the board”, and reports indicate that proposed cuts include $1.4 million from libraries, $1.3 million from parks and recreation, $1.9 million from public works, $1.1 million from safety and inspections, and $1.2 million from public safety.
Eight of the 31 ice rinks represents approximately 25 percent of the city-owned ice rinks. It is not clear at this time if these numbers refer to the number of available city-owned ice sheets, or entire facilities containing ice rinks, and if they refer to indoor or outdoor rinks or both.
RinkAtlas will continue to investigate, report, and revise its arena directory, as appropriate.