The City of Redmond is moving ahead with plans to demolish an old police station downtown and build an outdoor ice-skating rink expected to open by Thanksgiving next year.
Project meetings kicked off earlier this month after the City Council, sitting as the Redmond Urban Renewal Agency Board, awarded a design contract to Kirby Nagelhout Construction Company. The City expects the rink to cost between $5 million and $6 million, funded partially by property tax on development in an urban renewal district encompassing downtown.
At 7,000 — 9,000 square feet, the new rink could be up to three times the size of a temporary skating rink the City installed in 2010. When the City closed that rink prior to the 2024-2025 winter due to equipment failure, talks began about the need for a permanent facility.
Eric Sande, executive director with the Redmond Chamber of Commerce, said the old rink was a “much-loved” amenity.
“It really brought that holiday spirit and winter festival vibe downtown,” Sande told the Source. “It was a neat energy it brought into the community, so hopefully that will continue.”
The City Council and an urban renewal advisory board explored mixed-use development or multifamily housing at the old police station site, but didn’t receive any proposals from private developers for those uses, according to Meghan Gassner, program analyst with the City’s urban renewal agency. Ultimately, the City chose the rink because it aligns with urban renewal goals of having a year-round community space and will act as a catalyst for future development by drawing people downtown throughout the year, Gassner said in an email.
Outside of the winter months, the City expects the rink will be flexible as a park, event space or roller rink, Gassner said. The exact non-winter use will be determined through the design process, Gassner said. Over the next few months, the conceptual design process will produce three options for community and policymaker review, Gassner said.
Wayne Powderly, a director with Cummings Group, a project management consultant, told the City Council May 12 that an architect on the project team brings special experience designing, engineering and running his own ice rink.
“We’re anxious to kick this off tomorrow and deliver an ice rink before Thanksgiving 2027,” Powderly said.
Construction — starting with razing the old police station — will begin in early 2027.
The site is about an acre at the corner of 7th Street and Deschutes Avenue, sharing a block with the new 40,000-square-foot Redmond Library, which opened in early 2025. Later that year, the City opened a new 42,000 square-foot-police station, three times the size of the old station downtown.
The City created the Downtown Urban Renewal District in 1995. The 600-acre boundary stretches roughly from Negus Way south to Veterans Way, including the downtown core and other areas close to U.S. Highway 97.
Urban renewal is also known as tax increment financing. The district captures property taxes on new development within the boundary and redistributes the funds to public or private projects within the area, meant as a tool to spur vitality in areas deemed “blighted.”
The City’s proposed budget for next year includes $3.3 million in urban renewal taxes and $1 million in citywide for fees on new development collected for parks funding.
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