A nonprofit group that had been trying to develop an ice rink complex at Creve Coeur Lake Memorial Park announced Friday that it now had its sights set on a different location in Maryland Heights.

The project has the backing of St. Louis County Executive Steve Stenger, and the city of Maryland Heights has pledged financial support for construction.

The move comes after the National Park Service blocked construction of the project at Creve Coeur Lake Park.

Maryland Heights has one of the largest pieces of undeveloped land in St. Louis County. Known as the Maryland Park Lake District, the 1,800-acre area was targeted for development almost two years ago by a company affiliated with Los Angeles Rams owner Stan Kroenke.

However, plans for that development fell apart as Maryland Heights officials realized a large stormwater plan would be required before development could take place. They have spent the last year continuing planning for the site and were working with the Howard Bend Levee District to develop a stormwater management system. City officials have previously said such a system could cost upwards of $20 million in the low-lying, levee-protected land between Creve Coeur Lake Park and the Missouri River.

A joint announcement by the nonprofit Legacy Ice Foundation, St. Louis County and the St. Louis Blues hockey team didn’t specifically identify the area, but Legacy President Patrick Quinn said “that is the area we are honed in on.”

“Our experiences with the National Park Service and the associated delays remain disappointing, but the good news is we have another spectacular site in Maryland Heights here in St. Louis County,” Quinn said. “We look forward to building a complex that we need and deserve. The location changes, but our vision remains the same.”

Maryland Heights has agreed to contribute $6.5 million toward the practice facility, and it is still looking for developers to build in Maryland Park Lake District. The city has scheduled a special City Council meeting at 5 p.m. Monday to consider issuing tax credits to help fund the project.

The county is also poised to help finance the facility. In August, the St. Louis County Industrial Development Authority approved an agreement to issue up to about $40 million in bonds, repaid with rents, to finance the facility. The county also has an agreement to partially guarantee some of the payments on the bonds.

The ice project backers had initially hoped to open the complex in September 2018 but are now looking at September 2019, said Chris Zimmerman, Blues president and CEO of business operations.

Zimmerman emphasized that the Blues would not be the main tenant at the facility, unlike the Rams’ former practice facility in nearby Earth City. “We would be a tenant in this facility,” he said. “Of the total ice time across four rinks, the Blues would represent all of 3 percent.” He said it would be good for the Blues to be in a facility with more access to their fan base.

Stenger pledged full support.

“There would only be regret if the project were not to happen at all,” he said in a statement. “But it appears that will not be the case. Be assured that I will offer any assistance I can as we see this project transition from paper to reality.”

The joint news release said the four-sheet, regional recreation center would be the home for a wide variety of ice sports, amateur and college ice hockey uses, youth tournaments and the practice facility for the Blues.

The development effort on behalf of the Ice Center will be led by Summit Development.

The plan to build the project at Creve Coeur Lake Park was divisive. The closure of Hardee’s Iceplex in Chesterfield has reduced ice time available for area youth hockey clubs and has forced some events to extremely early or late times. But environmental groups called the project at the park a misuse of federally protected open space.

The National Park Service regional office ordered the Missouri Department of Natural Resources in late August to stop construction of the facility. Because portions of the park were established using money from the federal Land and Water Conservation Fund, the 250,000-square-foot project pitched for the park’s northwest corner needed approval from the Park Service.

Federal park officials were “concerned that the ice center would act as a stand-alone attraction and would not encourage further outdoor recreation at the rest of the site.” And because they believed that construction had begun without Park Service approval, it asked the DNR to shut it down.

In October, representatives from Legacy, members of county government and area economic development officials tried to convince the federal government that the regional National Park Service office blocking construction was unfairly biased against the plan. But the project backers said they came away disappointed — and focused on other sites.

Jim Thomas of the Post-Dispatch contributed to this report.