BRILLION, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) – A facility featuring the largest biathlon in the state is coming to Brillion. Ariens Company has broken ground on a Nordic Center, slated to open this December.
The Airens Nordic Center is being compared to the likes of Winter Olympics host centers in Lake Placid, New York and Midway, Utah but built on a smaller scale.
“There was just a desire to bring something here to Northeast Wisconsin, because there’s not really anything like this here in Northeast Wisconsin, the state of Wisconsin, and even beyond in the Midwest, and in the country,” said Monica Ariens, managing director for AriensCo Hospitality.
The facility is being built on 200 acres at the outskirts of Brillion and will include a year-round five-mile trail network for recreation, training and competition in cross country skiing, biathlon, roller skiing and much more.
“They can either cross country ski, run, bike, hike; there’s a lot of opportunity in how they can use the trails,” Ariens said.
Ariens Nordic Center will be open to the public and will come equipped with a 3K paved roller-ski loop for off season training, 20-point biathlon range and a pond for, according to Ariens, the most advanced snowmaking system for Nordic skiing.
“Nordic – it is an awesome community that exists here throughout the state of Wisconsin,” said Ariens. “More locally, we’ve been connecting with individuals who are kinda the experts here and getting their input.”
The Nordic center is already creating a buzz in the community, but two locals are especially excited. Ariens tells FOX 11 she hopes that excitement rubs off on others, just like them.
“We have two local athletes who will be competing in the biathlon for the United States for this Olympics in Beijing – Deedra Irwin and Paul Schommer,” Ariens said. “They are an inspiration to a lot of local Nordic athletes in the community, so we’re hoping that Ariens Nordic Center can foster more future potential athletes to compete for us.”
Ariens says, the athletes, coupled with this new world-class facility, are sure to put Brillion on the map.
The company is a sponsor of the United States Biathlon team.
