Photo by marc.benton.

It’s looking like the Fort Dupont Ice Arena—the longstanding ice rink in Ward 7.—is getting an upgrade.

The Department of General Services released a solicitation on Tuesday issuing a request for proposals for a design firm to design and build a new Fort Dupont Ice Arena. The Washington Business Journal reports that the city is eyeing the construction of a two-sheet rink next to the existing one, which is located at 3770 Ely Place SE. The project, WBJ says, is “expected to cost about $20.4 million,” with the city chipping in a majority of the cash, $15.4 million, and the non-profit group Friends of Fort Dupont Ice Arena raising the rest.

The current Fort Dupont Ice Arena—D.C.’s only indoor ice rink—was built in 1976 as an “interim facility to celebrate America’s bicentennial.” The Friends of Fort Dupont Ice Arena was formed in ’96 in response to the proposed closure of the arena, and took over management of it from the National Park Service. In 2010, the arena was officially handed over to the city from the NPS.

The new ice arena, which is scheduled to start construction in 2016, will be built adjacent to the current one, on the current site of a parking lot. It’ll have all the same amenities, and more; including two ice sheets—one 200′ x 85′ and the other 200′ x 100’—larger locker rooms and storage spaces, spectator viewing areas, fitness room, computer lab, classrooms, and more.

As for the old Fort Dupont? That’ll be demolished after the first ice sheet in the new one is completed. Proposals for the design of the new ice arena are due March 21, and the notice of award will be announced at the end of April.