County ponders ‘convertible’ arena

Retractable-roof option considered

FORT COLLINS – A Canadian firm that makes hockey-arena construction its core business has stepped toward building a multipurpose Larimer County fairgrounds arena that could feature a retractable roof.

The arena, if built as proposed in one option, would roll several features of the fairgrounds master plan into one, grand-scale facility that would seat 6,500 people for events ranging from rodeo to minor-league hockey to concerts under the stars.

International Colliseums Co., a Toronto-based design-build firm that has constructed sports complexes throughout Canada, the United States and Japan, submitted the proposal to Larimer County officials, calling it “an unprecedented facility…