East Haven Ice Rink To Reopen After Two Years of Construction

The East Haven Ice Rink is reopening this year after being closed for 2 years due to a leak in the rink floor. When the rink closed in April of 2019 it was because of unsafe conditions. There was a leak going into the cold header of the rink. The cold header consists of metal wires that form a shape to help cool the rink. The leak caused wet ice that could affect the players while they skate. 

Earlier this year, the town of East Haven had to hold an emergency meeting after receiving construction bids from SLAM Construction. The bids were necessary to ensure the timeline for completion. Some of the money for the construction is coming from two different capital projects and Local Capital Improvement Program. The rest of the money is being donated by the American Rescue Act Funds.

Over the last two years during construction, the players had to drive to other rinks in other towns. EHHS hockey player, Julia Crisci, said, “Practices are usually 5 days a week with the exception of games. One major difficulty with driving to other rinks was constantly needing to get called out of class early in order to make it to practice on time every day, but I did not practice less because of it.” The students would have to leave classes early and they would lose out on learning time. Julia also said, “The loss of the rink has mostly been inconvenient to everyone for high school hockey, so it is nice to play back home again.” The players who are playing out of the rink are happy to be back to play the sport that they love without the commute. 

There are many students from EHHS who are looking forward to the reopening that had gone to many of the games in Northford previously. Senior, Alexis Serafin, said she is super excited for the reopening. Alexis is a big fan of hockey and loves going to the games. Senior, Sydney Herard had gone to the games that had taken place in the Northford Ice Pavilion. While at the games she had a lot of fun. Freshman, Emily Forrest, is excited to be able to play again in the rink.