JANESVILLE, Wis. -- The Janesville City Council has taken a big step toward building a new ice arena.

On Tuesday, the City Council voted in favor of matching $2.5 million if private investors can raise their share of the funds by March.

A private group came forward months ago, expressing interest in building a new facility.

"There's concern about whether we're going to have to do major maintenance or repairs to the [current] ice rink, over a million dollars," said City Manager Eric Levitt. "This group thought this was the right time to look at maybe a new rink rather than putting that million dollars into the existing rink."

The city is considering 12 sites for the new facility, which could be either a single or a double-rink arena.