Government: City approves $275,000 contract with architect for ice facility

Center will be located at Sports Park

City Administrator Jimmy Forbis and Gilroy Mayor Marie Blankley in front of the field that will one day serve as the Sharks’ Ice Center. Photo By Keira Silver

By Staff Reports

The city of Gilroy entered a $275,000 contract with an architectural firm to prepare the basis of design documents for the Gilroy Ice Center, a joint project between the city of Gilroy and Sharks Sports & Entertainment.

The contract with Perkins & Will, approved at the Aug. 21 city council meeting, is the first step in designing and constructing the Gilroy Ice Center. The basis of design documents will provide a baseline of architectural guidance for the future center to allow the city and SSE to ensure all essential facility components are included in the final construction bidding documents. These documents have a project definition, technical requirements, plans, constraints, reference materials, and contractual requirements.

The Ice Center will be located at Gilroy’s Sports Park. It is proposed as a 100,000-square-foot building with two indoor ice rinks, a restaurant, a snack bar, a pro shop, and other ancillary uses.

“This is an exciting step, and we are very eager to move forward with the Gilroy Ice Center,” said Mayor Marie Blankley. “Through our partnership with the Sharks and with gratitude to our Gilroy-based community partners through whom discussions began years ago, this project has become a reality and will greatly benefit our economy, community, and families.”

In addition to the contract with Perkins & Will, the Gilroy City Council also approved a resolution to reimburse project-related expenditures through bond issuance. The issuance of project bonds, which will not occur until the basis of design documents is finalized, is anticipated to occur early next year. The city and SSE will jointly fund preparatory work such as the basis of design documents and design-build bidding documents.