The Jefferson City Parks and Recreation Commission is moving forward with research into the development of a new ice arena.
The commission chose a firm Tuesday to conduct a feasibility study into the proposed project.
The company Firland will conduct the study, which will look into location, size and need for the ice arena, Parks Department Director Todd Spalding said.
At the moment, the desired plan would be to include the ice arena as part of the Missouri State Penitentiary redevelopment plan.
A St. Louis-based group including Chesterfield Hotels proposed a large development at the site, which could come in four stages. The first would include a hotel and conference center as well as some infrastructure like roads and parking. Future stages could include a mixture of uses from a two-sheet ice arena to commercial and residential buildings, much of which would be developed by others.
The study will also look at the city's current Washington Park Ice Arena, what the city needs and how the pricing structure compares to other arenas.
There's been discussion on whether the arena would need two sheets or one, which would also be explored in the study.
Spalding said officials with the department interviewed four companies after receiving seven proposals. He said they wanted to use a firm that "works in operation of ice arenas."