AUBURN — Councilors say they want more time to ask questions about turning Ingersoll Arena into an indoor turf field.

The council heard a report from city staff and members of the Recreation and Special Events Advisory Board about a $519,572 bid to convert the former ice rink during their Tuesday workshop meeting.

According to Recreation Department Director Ravi Sharma, work could begin this spring with the facility ready for use by October.

But Mayor Jonathan LaBonte said he talked with private developers who were interested in using the space.

“If we go out to bid and we build this thing, the gains to be had from a private-public partnership evaporate,” LaBonte said. “If that’s what you do, you can no longer bring in additional capital and share the risk. That’s the whole point of doing a public-private partnership.”

Councilors went into a quick executive session to talk with LaBonte and came back saying they needed more time.

Auburn began operating its new dual-surface facility, the Norway Savings Bank Ice Arena, in 2013 as a replacement for Ingersoll Arena. Since then, the city has been considering ways to reuse the building.

A multiple-use turf field, tennis courts and basketball courts were some of the potential reuses, according to the study Cordjia Capital Projects Group performed for the city. The study was a business and marketing survey of the city’s Ingersoll Arena and groups that might be interested in using the building.

The council convened a Recreation and Special Events Advisory Board to review the study and that group came down in favor of converting the arena to an indoor turf facility. The work would cost the city about $490,000, according to the Cordjia study.

Councilors agreed last fall to fund $250,000 for the project in their 2014-15 capital plan and the city began accepting bids.

The low bid on the work, submitted by Freeport-based Doten Construction, came in at $519,572. Sharma said the difference could be made up with bond revenues.

staylor@sunjournal.com