"Pouring a new concrete rink floor over frozen ground would all but guarantee major structural failure down the road." The City of Edina posted that line on Aug. 27, 2026, in its notice explaining why Braemar Arena's East Rink would not be ready on time. While digging out the old floor, crews found frozen soil beneath it, 12 feet deep at its thickest point. The rink was supposed to be done by Oct. 20. The new target is about Jan. 1, and until then the arena is running on two ice sheets.
For Indian Hills households, Braemar is the big city recreation complex a short drive away. This season it runs on two clocks. The parts of Braemar that don't depend on ice are opening on schedule. The arena depends on a soil test. Everything left to finish at the complex this winter is waiting on the ground, not the calendar.
The East Rink Was Already the Weak Sheet
The East Rink was a problem before anyone found frost under it. Braemar Arena General Manager Jesse Buchholz told the Sun Current the old floor varied by about an inch and a half, which made the ice wavy and expensive to maintain. City communications staffer Steve Peckham said the Edina Hockey Association had stopped holding tryouts there, because it didn't consider it fair for some kids to try out on that ice while others skated on hard, smooth ice. Buchholz said district playoffs avoid the East Rink for the same reason.
"There's nothing our staff can do to level it out," Buchholz said. "If you start leveling it out, you're going to have really thin spots that are unsafe."
So a new floor was always part of the plan. The surprise came during excavation. The city says two independent frost tests by licensed engineering firms, the most recent in summer 2025, showed no frost. Its explanation is that spot testing "is not a perfect science," and the full extent only showed up once crews dug out the whole floor. The contractor is thawing the soil, and full soil testing is set for mid-October, about two weeks from now. Floor construction picks back up once the tests show no frost, and the city has promised another update after those results. Treat the Jan. 1 date as a forecast until then.
Braemar's Two Clocks, Side by Side
| Braemar piece | Status as of early October 2026 | What it's waiting on |
|---|---|---|
| East Rink, Braemar Arena | Target moved from Oct. 20 to about Jan. 1 | Mid-October soil retest |
| Arena overall | Finish target of fall 2027, reported in February 2026 | Construction phasing |
| Hilary Lane and Braemar Blvd | Reopened Sept. 22, 2026 | Nothing |
| Braemar Golf Dome | Opens Oct. 31, 2026 | Nothing |
| Mountain bike trails | 6.7 miles open | Check live trail closures |
| South trail connector | In permitting, bid package being finalized | Contractor selection, site conditions for bridge placement |
| Cross-country ski grooming | Seasonal | Snow cover, 8 inches required in 2025-26 |
| Dome lot pickleball | Starts in 2027 | Warm months after the Dome closes |
Why Losing One Sheet Hits Harder Here
The city's own project page says Braemar needs to grow because demand for ice time already exceeds capacity. That demand comes from youth, high school and adult hockey, figure skating and open skating. Peckham told Edina Zephyrus the arena draws more than one million visits a year.
The arena has dealt with a lost sheet before. In early November, the South Rink's chiller "was flooded with oil, ammonia, and failed," in Buchholz's words, and the rink was closed for three weeks. Renting and installing a temporary chiller on a trailer cost just over $280,000, and the South Rink has run on that rental unit while it waits for a permanent replacement in the project. Peckham said the outage hit just as Edina High School hockey tryouts, Edina Hockey Association practices and the Braemar City of Lakes Figure Skating Club season were all underway, "and user groups were scrambling to find ice time elsewhere."
This fall, the arena again has to fit those programs onto two sheets. Staff are working with user group leaders to adjust schedules, split the remaining ice slots fairly, and find other local ice where they can. The city hasn't published a schedule showing how each group's ice changes. Families should get those details from their own club or association.
The fix that's causing the crunch is also the long-term answer to it. The $45.2 million project turns the outdoor Backyard Rink into a fourth indoor sheet. It also expands the lobby, adds safety work at the drop-off and pick-up area, and replaces refrigeration, ice-making and HVAC systems. Buchholz told the Sun Current that staff compared rink use: an indoor rink is used more than one thousand hours, while the outdoor rink gets around 350, with weather causing a no-show rate of at least 25%. He hopes the new sheet will hold 600 to 700 people. That's more than the East Rink and smaller than the roughly 2,500-seat West Rink, which hosts the big championship games. On Sept. 8, 2026, the city reported that the City Council had approved a $33.2 million guaranteed maximum price with Knutson Construction Services. "Establishing the GMP locks us into the largest portion of our overall project budget," Buchholz said.
The Half of Braemar That Opens on Schedule
Outside the arena, the park is finishing work on time. The city's Sept. 22 construction update said paving and painting were complete and that Hilary Lane and Braemar Boulevard had reopened. The parking lot stayed restricted for final items such as fencing, EV charging and grading, and the city said it would open in time for golf dome season.
That lot is the clearest change for anyone who drives over in winter. Edina's May 2026 city newsletter said 50 spaces were being added to the Golf Dome lot at 7420 Braemar Blvd. The lot regularly filled at peak times, which left parked cars lining the road near the Dome. The expanded lot also adds trailhead access to the park's hiking and mountain biking trails, and it's paid for out of the $8.1 million in voter-approved sales-tax funding for Braemar Park.
The Dome itself reopens Oct. 31, 2026 and runs through April 30, 2027, weather permitting, open 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. daily. It has 44 tee areas on two levels and a large practice putting green. Braemar Golf calls it the only dome in Minnesota with Toptracer Range technology. The holidays have separate hours, so check the Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year's schedule before you go.
The mountain bike network is open too. According to Minnesota Off-Road Cyclists, Pathfinder Trail Building finished the trails in 2024: 6.7 miles of machine-built singletrack in three segments. The southwest and northwest segments sit on opposite sides of Braemar Boulevard and have shorter beginner and intermediate loops plus the jump lines. The east segment is a single 2.6-mile loop rated intermediate to advanced. MORC says trailhead parking for the east segment is in a lot right off Hilary Lane, and trailhead parking isn't allowed in the golf course lot.
What Is Still Waiting on the Ground
The rest of Braemar's unfinished work depends on site conditions as much as on schedules:
- The East Rink depends on the mid-October soil retest. The floor can't be poured until the city confirms the frost is gone.
- The south trail connector is in permitting. Park Planning Project Manager Rachel DeVries wrote that a bid package is being finalized, and the construction schedule depends on procurement and "site conditions that allow for bridge placement." MORC's page still lists a south segment opening in spring 2025. The city's newer answer suggests that date has passed without an opening, at least for the connector.
- Cross-country ski grooming depends on snow. For winter 2025-26, the city said its equipment was ready but waiting for 8 inches of snow cover to protect the turf, and that it would post trail layouts once tracks were laid.
- Pickleball goes on the new Dome lot surface starting in 2027. Four tournament-style mat courts will be rolled out in the warmer months after the Dome closes. City Council Member James Pierce called it "a creative solution to get full use of that space."
For now, an Indian Hills household planning an evening at Braemar this season can count on the Dome, the reopened roads, the larger lot and the bike loops. Ice time will depend on whatever the club schedule says that week. The next update will come after the mid-October soil tests, and that will be the first real sign of whether the East Rink makes its Jan. 1 target.
Big public projects like Braemar affect daily life in Indian Hills, from parking and traffic to which amenities are open on a given weeknight. At Doro Real Estate, we track these projects for the owners and landlords we work with, so you know what's changing nearby before it changes how you use it. If you own in western Edina and want an agent who follows the details down to the rink schedule, start your concierge consultation.
