In late August, crews at Braemar Arena had melted the East Rink's ice. They had scraped off the first layer of sand and pulled out the corroded steel coolant pipes that had been there since the late 1960s. Then they kept digging, and they hit frozen ground.
On Monday, Aug. 24, an engineering firm measured it. According to the Sun Current, the frost was 12 feet deep at its thickest point. The East Rink had been due back by Oct. 20. Instead, Edina's busiest ice building is starting hockey season with two sheets. The city now says the third will return by Dec. 26.
The frozen ground is the old East Rink's own history coming due, and it's the clearest case yet for why Braemar is being rebuilt.
A rink that froze the ground underneath itself
An indoor rink floor is a slab of concrete kept below freezing all season, often year after year. Industry guidance explains why that's a problem without heat underneath. The International Ice Hockey Federation's sustainable ice rink guide says the ground below a rink's insulation eventually cools to freezing. That's why rinks need subfloor heating to protect against frost heave, floor damage and pipe leaks.
The Industrial Refrigeration Consortium at the University of Wisconsin describes what happens next. Water in the soil freezes and expands. More water migrates toward the freezing zone and forms ice lenses, which can lift and crack the slab above.
Braemar's East Rink lost that protection. The Sun Current reported that the rink's subfloor heating system failed about 10 years ago and the ground below froze solid. The expanding frost made the floor uneven, leaving slow and fast spots that arena staff spent years trying to work around. If you've played or skated on the East sheet over the past decade and felt the puck or your blades behave differently in certain areas, this is the reason.
Why two rounds of testing came back clean
The city knew the risk. Project communications coordinator Steve Peckham told the Sun Current that staff tested the East Rink twice, once in 2023 and again in summer 2025, because they knew the subfloor system had failed. In 2025 the rink closed for seven weeks for that testing. "The test was negative for permafrost," Peckham said. "It showed signs that there was permafrost previously. The problem with the two tests that we had done previously is that it is not a perfect science."
Frost testing on a working rink means drilling a probe through the floor at a handful of spots. None of the earlier spot checks found frost. The August measurement was more accurate because the old pipes and a large amount of dirt had already been removed. The frost only showed up fully once the floor that had been hiding it was gone.
Building over it was never an option. The city's project page says pouring a new concrete floor on frozen ground would likely lead to a major structural failure later. Arena officials told KARE 11 the same thing in plainer terms. Frozen ground expands and contracts, so the concrete would eventually crack and the middle of the rink would sag. Early coverage gave different depths and a Jan. 1 return date. The city's Oct. 9 update is the current word on both.
Four weeks of heat, then a countdown to Dec. 26
The thaw began Sept. 11. Crews first removed two feet of sand so heating tubes and thermal pads could sit closer to the top of the frost. Then Ground Thaw Units started warming the rink floor. On Oct. 9, after four weeks of that work, an engineering firm's tests confirmed the frost was gone.
The city's Oct. 9 update lays out the remaining steps:
- Remove the Ground Thaw Units.
- Install a new subfloor heating system and coolant pipes.
- Pour a new concrete rink floor.
- Cure the concrete for 28 days.
- Open the East Rink for play, currently scheduled by Dec. 26.
Step two is the one that matters for the next few decades. A new subfloor heating system is exactly what failed under the old rink, and it's what keeps the ground from freezing again. The city says it can't guarantee another unforeseen obstacle won't push the date. Staff and crews are working to make every day count so the rink is ready as soon as possible.
Two sheets in a building that normally runs three
The original schedule was built to avoid exactly this situation. The city moved the project's start date up to March 16, ahead of the original late-summer plan. The South Rink got its new floor first, with work shifting to the East Rink afterward. General manager Jesse Buchholz explained the goal at the time: keep two rinks running through spring and summer, then "be back up to three operational indoor rinks in the fall when figure skating and hockey seasons are in full swing."
| Rink | Status in mid-October 2026 | What's happening |
|---|---|---|
| South | Open | New floor finished in July |
| West | Open | Hosting open skate sessions this month |
| East | Closed | New subfloor heating, floor pour and cure, target Dec. 26 |
| New fourth indoor rink | Part of the larger project | Converting the outdoor Backyard rink, with the full project projected to finish in fall 2027 |
Losing one sheet in October hits harder here than in most places. Peckham said so directly in the Sun Current:
"We're going to be down one sheet of ice for a period of time. For a lot of communities, that's not that big of a deal. But in Edina, it really is. There are a lot of user groups that are depending on a lot of ice."
Those user groups have weighed in. Holly Dau, president of the Braemar Figure Skating Club, told KARE 11 that the club buys ice year-round. She said everyone will have to give up some of the ice they're used to. Her coaches teach two or three skaters individually each hour and can't jump between rinks. Being down a rink "right in the middle of hockey tryouts and the beginning of a hockey season," she said, "is going to be really tough; no one wants to give up the ice."
Art Boylan, president of the Edina Hockey Association, told KARE 11 the delay is a setback but said the association is "really excited about the improvements and what they will mean for Edina Hockey." Buchholz said the arena has been looking for ice at nearby facilities it has relationships with. It's also considering longer operating hours to make up for the missing sheet.
Where public skating fits this fall
Public skating is still running on the two working rinks. The city's October calendar for Braemar has listed weekday public skates from 11:30 a.m. to 12:45 p.m. on the South Rink. Saturday afternoon sessions from 1:15 to 2:45 p.m. are also on South, and Sunday afternoon sessions are on West. Wednesday open hockey is listed at 11:30 a.m. Times change from week to week, so check the city's Braemar calendar before you load the car, and go by the Dec. 26 construction target for anything listed on the East Rink before then. Open skate admission is $7 per visit or $125 for an annual pass. Skate rental costs extra.
Plan for parking, too. The south lot at Braemar has been closed to the public since construction began and will stay closed through fall 2027. The main upper lot remains open.
The East Rink is the first piece of a bigger building
The East Rink floor is one part of a $45.2 million upgrade and expansion. The project adds a new indoor rink and a larger lobby. It also brings safer drop-off and pick-up, ADA improvements, modern refrigeration and ice-making systems, new dasher boards, better locker rooms and restrooms, and new HVAC. It's funded by a half-cent sales and use tax Edina voters approved in November 2022. Everyone who shops in Edina pays that tax, including nonresidents, and many of them skate at Braemar too. In early September, the City Council approved a $33.2 million guaranteed maximum price with the construction manager. Finance & Commerce reported that the whole project is projected to finish in fall 2027.
The city has always described the case for this project in terms of aging systems. Braemar dates to the 1960s and has had a patchwork of upgrades since. Some of its infrastructure is failing, and demand for ice from hockey, figure skating and open skating already exceeds capacity. Buchholz told KARE 11 the arena already sees more than half a million visitors a year and expects that number to grow. "These types of issues have highlighted how important it's for us to invest in a facility and update all our equipment," he said.
The East Rink skaters get back around the holidays won't be the old one with a fresh coat of ice. It sits on thawed ground, with a heating system underneath meant to keep the ground from freezing again.
At Polovitz Group, we follow the projects that shape everyday life in Edina, from Braemar's rink floors to what's changing at the city's parks and venues. If you want to talk about how what's happening around town fits into your plans for your home, our team is happy to share what we're seeing.
