Thanks to the tremendous generosity of the Guidant Foundation, the John Rose Minnesota OVAL is back in business. On June 20, the Guidant Foundation contributed $500,000 to the Friends of the OVAL Foundation (FOF) for necessary repairs and upgrades to the OVAL refrigeration system. The Guidant Foundation also pledged an additional $500,000 and challenged the FOF Foundation and users of the facility to match that donation to create an endowment fund for future operations.

The OVAL is the world’s largest outdoor sheet of refrigerated ice. Last year the chiller, a component of the refrigeration system, failed and the City relied on natural weather conditions to keep the OVAL open for the season. Weather conditions were difficult to predict which shortened the season and did not serve the needs of the skaters. The OVAL is a popular venue for local, state, national and international speedskating, bandy, hockey competitions as well as recreational skating. Several Olympians, including 5 time gold medal winner Bonnie Blair, Roseville’s Annie Driscoll and Maplewood’s Amy Peterson, have raced at the OVAL. The OVAL was built in 1993 in partnership with the State of Minnesota. The OVAL is a valuable asset to the region; however, operating costs have exceeded revenues and the Roseville taxpayers have contributed more than anticipated. The City hopes to lessen the financial burden on the Roseville community.

Earlier this year the City Council appointed an OVAL Task Force to look at the long term financial viability of the OVAL. The Task Force made several recommendations to help address many of ongoing operating costs. The recommendations included an increase in user and public skating fees, increase marketing efforts to draw more users to the facility, seek corporate sponsorships and donations, consider establishing a resident/non-resident fee and due to its regional nature, seek financial support from the Minnesota Legislature.