Trine Project Lands Regional Cities Funding
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As a subscriber you can listen to articles at work, in the car, or while you work out. Subscribe NowThe Indiana Economic Development Corp. has approved $2.8 million in Regional Cities funding for Trine University in Angola. The money, which will be awarded within the next 35 days, will go toward the university’s new hockey arena and athletic and event center.
The Northeast Indiana Regional Development Authority approved the Regional Cities funding for the Trine project last month. The funding covers about 15 percent of the total cost of the new Thunder Ice Arena and MTI Center, which is nearly $19 million.
"Trine University’s Thunder Ice Arena and MTI Center are strong examples of why the Regional Cities Initiative was designed," said Jeff Turner, board chairman of the Northeast Indiana RDA. "We are attracting talent and creating a place where people want to live and work. With inventive and creative projects like this, we will grow the region to one million residents and attract the workforce critical to our employers’ success."
The university says it has $13.5 million in private donations pledged to the project and is receiving $1.4 million in gifts-in-kind from the city of Angola, including streets, rights-of-way, sidewalks and storm drainage.
The more than 46,000 square-foot, 700-seat Thunder Ice Arena, which will be home to the university’s men’s and women’s hockey programs, is expected to be complete in the fall of 2017. The nearly 75,000 square-foot, 3,000-seat MTI Center, which will include three basketball courts, a six-lane bowling alley, e-sports center and fitness center, is expected to be complete in 2018.
The IEDC is also considering approval of Regional Cities funding for the University of Saint Francis, which is seeking $2.8 million toward renovations at its downtown Fort Wayne campus. Last month, the Northeast Indiana RDA recommended Regional Cities funding for the Embassy Theatre in Fort Wayne and the YMCA of DeKalb County, both of which also require approval from the IEDC.