A new agreement between the DC government and the Friends of the Fort Dupont Ice Arena calls for $25 million in city funding for the project over the next several years as long as the group can raise $5 million in private funds. (Photo by Lilah Burke)

Funding plan for Fort Dupont ice arena expansion set after extended fight with city

By Cuneyt Dil On Feb 20, 2019 Last updated Feb 21, 2019

Supporters of the Fort Dupont Ice Arena in Southeast reached an agreement with city officials Tuesday to fund the facility’s long-delayed expansion — provided the arena’s nonprofit operator raises $5 million.

Mayor Muriel Bowser announced plans earlier this year to shift $21 million from the project’s budget to cover maintenance and repairs at schools, recreation centers and parks. After supporters of the arena raised concerns that the money would not be restored in future years and Ward 7 Council member Vincent Gray sought to reject the funding change, the city government and nonprofit Friends of Fort Dupont Ice Arena worked together in recent weeks to spell out a funding plan for future years.

According to that plan, the Bowser administration’s budget next month will include $21 million in funding for the project evenly split between fiscal years 2021 and 2022, supplementing the $2 million now available and another $2 million that has been spent to date. However, the nonprofit will need to raise at least $3 million in private funding before Feb. 1, 2020, for the city funds to become available for use. Then, an additional $2 million will need to be privately raised before substantial completion of the project, according to the agreement.

The Ward 7 arena serves children and students, the agreement notes, and 62 percent of its skaters are black, a typically underrepresented demographic in competitive hockey and skating. The modernization will add a second ice rink — described as necessary to ease crowded conditions — and could begin as early as October 2020, according to the Friends of Fort Dupont.

Renovation plans call for the addition of a second ice rink at Ward 7’s Fort Dupont Ice Arena. The project could begin as early as October 2020. (Photo by Lilah Burke)

“This agreement with the District of Columbia now puts the new rink on a clear, even if steep, path for becoming a reality,” the group said in a press release.

Friends of Fort Dupont has raised nearly $435,000 to date through a GoFundMe campaign launched Feb. 3. Washington Capitals owner Ted Leonsis, his family, and the commissioner of the National Hockey League gave an initial combined $300,000.

The agreement calls for collaboration between Friends of Fort Dupont Ice Arena and the District on design review and opportunities to cut project costs. “The Parties will work together to develop a programming plan for the Ice Arena that includes significant opportunities for community use and youth participation and free skate periods for District residents,” the signed understanding says.

Upon learning of Bowser’s plan to divert the funds, close observers of the arena’s ongoing expansion challenges launched a “#savethefort” social media campaign for the project to be funded and Gray introduced a disapproval resolution, which he withdrew Tuesday when the city’s new agreement was finalized.

The Bowser administration and Friends of Fort Dupont entered negotiations as the council’s initially scheduled vote approached. The council members agreed on Feb. 5 to defer action on Gray’s resolution for two weeks to give the parties time to reach an agreement before this week’s additional meeting.

The Department of General Services and Department of Parks and Recreation have projected the expansion will cost a total of $39 million, an estimate which Gray said Tuesday “markedly overstates the case.” Gray noted that while he was mayor, he allocated $15 million for the arena’s modernization, with another $10 million subsequently set aside by Council Chairman Phil Mendelson and Ward 3 Council member Mary Cheh. Gray said he expects the $30 million in total funding envisioned under the agreement to prove sufficient for the project.

“This is the only ice arena like this in the entirety of the District of Columbia,” Gray said, thanking the Bowser administration and Friends of Fort Dupont for their work on the agreement. “Hopefully this will move us forward.”

Gray had previously described the debate pitting funding for the project against money for school repairs as “an incredible ordeal,” and on Tuesday he again referenced the difficult situation that arose with the mayor’s reprogramming plan.

In her Jan. 25 funding proposal, Bowser said that reprogramming funds for the arena’s expansion — part of a shift in $54.9 million in total — would be for urgent HVAC and maintenance repairs at school and recreation facilities. With Gray’s withdrawal of the disapproval resolution, the facility repairs are set to move forward this year while Friends of Fort Dupont fundraises for its modernization.

“The District therefore intends to use $21 million of the funding currently set aside for the Ice Arena Project to pay for critical capital improvements at public schools while FFD continues to raise private funds,” yesterday’s signed agreement said.