AUBURN — Recreation officials could look into building a second ice rink for youth hockey programs, city officials said Wednesday.

Recreation Department Director Ravi Sharma said he expects to report to city councilors in April about the feasibility of creating an ice-skating surface to supplement the Ingersoll Ice Arena in Pettengill Park.

“We don’t have a location yet, and that’s one of the things we’ll be looking into over the next couple of weeks,” Sharma said.

Ingersoll is home to several hockey programs, from youth hockey to adult leagues. That includes the independent Auburn Youth Hockey program, boys’ high school hockey teams from Edward Little, Leavitt and Poland-Gray/New Gloucester, and the combined girls’ hockey programs from Edward Little and Leavitt Area high schools.

“Basically, we have programs scheduled from 7 a.m. to 11 p.m. during hockey season,” Sharma said. “We don’t have room for any overflow right now.”

He said city councilors were asking whether there was room to accommodate teams from the Lewiston Area Youth Hockey League. 

That group lost its ice time at the Androscoggin Bank Colisee in Lewiston for the 2012-13 season when the Portland Pirates, the Maine Hockey Group and the Portland Junior Pirates purchased all available ice time for the year.

The Pirates group will offer a junior hockey program to Lewiston-area youths at the Colisee.

Ingersoll Arena is preparing to undergo a $450,000 renovation, Sharma said. That will expand locker rooms, viewing and concession areas but will not increase the ice surface.

“It’s just a project designed to address some problems we’ve had,” Sharma said.

staylor@sunjournal.com