Each year, EHA struggles to find enough ice hours for all their teams.  Many years ago, EHA started to save money with the hopes to partner with the City of Eagan to add a third sheet of indoor ice at Eagan Civic Arena.  As each year passes, and the costs continue to rise, the reality is that EHA can't support a third sheet of ice with a rising cost of over $10 million.

On July 27, 2020; a rink proposal for a phased construction approach at Goat Hill Park was presented at an EHA Board meeting.  A motion to form a committee was approved by the EHA Board.  This approval "kick-started" discussions with the City of Eagan. 

Discussions and site visits with the City of Eagan concluded that Goat Hill Park was the best location for this phased project.  Phase One is an outdoor refrigerated concrete base with standard 85' x 200' hockey boards.  Future phases include a covered structure in 2023, an ice-resurfacer (Zamboni), and warming house improvements in 2024.  The pavilion will eventually include specifically designed structures and landscaping to reduce light and sound emitted to nearby neighborhoods compared to the current outdoor rinks.

At the July 26th, 2021 EHA Board meeting; a motion passed to gift the City of Eagan $1.3 million to fund Phase One of the project.  In order to fulfill the gift, EHA had to get a $350,000 loan from a local financial institution.   On August 2, 2021, the Eagan City Council approved consent to accept the EHA donation to fund the project.   With the approval, official bids were received for the site work.  On October 5, 2021, contractors "broke ground" to officially start the project.  In mid-November, 2021, the project was "paused" for the winter due to low temperatures.   Phase One was completed in October 2022.  The refrigeration system was turned on for the first time November 10 as temps allowed and officially opened November 18, 2022.  An official grand opening ceremony occurred on January 17, 2023.  Phase two construction, for the covered structure, started in September, 2023.   The rink was open for the season on December 29, 2023.  Phase 3 construction is expected to start Spring 2024.

This project is designed to not only supplement EHA's ice needs at Eagan Civic Arena, it will allow covered summer training for numerous Eagan sports and other community events.  The rink is expected to be "flooded" in November each year.