Northwoods Arena Rink Concerns

CLOQUET- Officials at the Northwoods arena have a pretty big task ahead of them.

An assessment of the rink found it was in good condition, but the coolant system will soon be out–dated.

The rink uses R–22 coolant and management was told the refrigerant will be discontinued in 2020.

Hockey Association president, Mick Maslowski said, "The R–22 ruling is definitely a financial challenge for probably not only our rink but probably many of the rinks in Minnesota. And it's something that we're going to have to come up with a plan to bear the costs. We're looking at some of the alternatives, could bring us into the seven figures."

Now that the chemical is on its way out, the cost is skyrocketing.

Today a pound is $21.50.

That's an 850 percent increase in price since 2005.