When Dante Muzzioli reflects on the former municipal skating rink, one thing in particular was missing: a skate rental shop.
“There are people who don’t own skates … who would love to learn to skate,” he said, noting a single pair can cost anywhere from $100 to $200, even for a casual skater. “[Skate rental] opens the door to more people to come in.”
With that in mind, Muzzioli, who serves as the vice chair of the Municipal Rink Building Committee, approached Belmont Youth Activities/D.A.R.E. about the possibility of the organization making a donation.
“Between Dante and [Rink Manager Erik Harrington], they came back to us with a proposal to fund 200 pairs of skates, three mobile storage racks and two skate sharpeners,” Frank French, chair of the youth organization, told the Select Board Monday night.
The donation totaled $35,721. Additionally, the board approved the creation of the Belmont Sports Complex gift account and accepted other donations totaling $15,650.
“I thought it was great that D.A.R.E. could do it,” Muzzioli said.
“It’s a community rink. … it’s supposed to serve the community,” he added.
Although the rink will be ready for winter season practice by Nov. 1, a grand opening is scheduled to take place on Nov. 16, according to Building Committee Chair Mark Haley. A dedication will take place at 1:30 p.m., followed by an open house until 2:30 p.m. and a free skate from then until 5:30 p.m.
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The sports complex, for which voters approved a debt exclusion in April 2023, features bleacher seating for 208, plus five accessible seating options, and will include skate-changing seats for recreational and youth skaters. It also includes a community room, which can be used for birthday parties or film reviewing, four high school-dedicated locker rooms with 25 lockers each, and four dressing rooms for both home and away teams. Locker rooms will be available for all sports teams.
“Instead of dressing under the stands, they can come in here,” Haley said on a tour of the facility Tuesday morning, referring to the girls soccer team, which previously didn’t have a dedicated locker room space.
Three restrooms are located up front, including a family restroom with a changing table. The concession stand will have two windows—one serving the rink and another serving Harris Field athletics. New to this rink, Haley said, will be a dedicated office for the athletic trainer.
And of course, the new facility will have a skate rental room.
“I think it’s another major asset,” Haley said.
Ice laying is underway with an expected completion early next week. Opaque windows are set to be installed this week, allowing a little sunlight into the rink, and handrails and bench steps will soon be installed. Haley said the project remains on budget.
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“It’s going to be a great community facility,” he said. “It’s for all the high school teams, the youth hockey teams, the recreation team. It’s not just [for] hockey – it’s for all sports; from the fall all the way to the spring, and maybe the summer recreation program. It’s going to be an asset to the community.”
