A new, state of the art ice hockey facility is on its way to Columbus.

Dr. Morten Haugland laid out a blueprint on Saturday for a multi-use complex just off of Sawmill Road at I-270. Haugland, who has three hockey-playing kids, is also the ‎CEO and founder of the Haugland Learning Center, a school for children on the autism spectrum. The hockey facility will be adjacent to the Haugland Center.

"My wife and I were driving from the school all over town for hockey, and we joked, maybe we should just build a rink," Haugland said.

That, he said, was two or three years ago. But that fleeting thought is now becoming a reality, and they expect to break ground on the Viking Hockey Academy next summer or early fall with a September 2019 target opening.

This will be no ordinary hockey rink. The concept is modeled after the Okanagan Hockey Academy in Edmonton, Alberta, and the UPMC Lemieux Sports Complex in Pittsburgh. The facility will be home to two-regulation size ice rinks, a 'studio size' rink, an off-ice training center, a weight room, a restaurant/bar, a daycare program, and, perhaps most notably, educational classrooms.

The vision is that, like Okanagan and other hockey academies around the world, Viking Hockey Academy will be an academic institution that doubles as a hockey-training facility.

But make no mistake: after normal school hours, Haugland says that his facility will be open to local youth hockey programs as well as adult leagues, a program for inner-city youth, private lessons, sled hockey, and hockey for children and adults with physical or developmental disabilities.

"The lack of ice availability is the number one inspiration for this (project)", Haugland said.

Hockey has grown exponentially in Columbus in recent years, and Haugland credits the Blue Jackets and the Ohio State Buckeyes hockey program for attracting kids to the sport. He said Columbus youth programs have had to turn away and wait-list kids, and that his rink(s) would be an obvious solution to that issue.

Haugland, who grew up as a speedskater in Norway, said his $12 million, 85,000-square foot facility is a best-case scenario for the Columbus hockey market.

"I believe this location is ideal. It's situated just off (interstate) 270, and you can see it from the highway," he said. "Everyone that has an interest in kids playing hockey knows that we need more ice."

He preached a collaborative approach with the other stakeholders in Columbus, most notably the Ohio Health Chillers, a collection of rinks in Dublin, Worthington, Easton, Lewis Center, and attached to Nationwide Arena.

"I know for a fact that this will not negatively impact any of the currently-existing rinks," Haugland said.

"Things are starting to move along, fast. People want to see this go forward. We are going to do this."

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