While many people associate hockey and ice skating with winter time, a number of groups in Bozeman have started raising the funds to build a year-round ice rink.
The Gallatin Ice Foundation and Bozeman Amateur Hockey Association, or BAHA, say they plan to break ground on the new facility this July.
"A lot of the initial engineering and architecture started over a year ago, so we're quite a ways in and it's really spawned form just a need for more ice," said BAHA President Tyler Carneal.
The roughly $5.5 million project is intended to serve the needs of skaters who have only been able to skate seasonally at Haynes Pavilion.
"During the regular season here we have people using the rink from 6 a.m. til after midnight every day of the week. We have thousands and thousands of people going in and out of the fairgrounds using this facility and it's amazingly busy here," Carneal said.
They say about a quarter of the funds have been raised so far and they hope to finish the project by the winter of 2013.
To find out more about the project or contribute to fundraising you can visit the Gallatin Ice Foundation website by clicking here.
