The rink in Conway Park will provide skaters with a new and much needed venue for their activities.

By Andrew Firestone

Get ready to bust out the ice blades! The Somerville Board of Aldermen approved the authorization of borrowing a $2,435,355 bond for construction of a new outdoor skating rink. Highlander Hockey may have a new house, in the form of a new rink built adjacent to the old one at Veteran’s Memorial Ice Rink on Somerville Ave.

Ward 2 Alderwoman Maryann Heuston said that interest in hockey had grown with the youth of the city. “I think there is a need for additional capacity,” she said. “It seems like something we should do, because there is a need for it. It’s basically going to end up generating its own revenue.”

The reasons for construction, detailed by the Mayor in a power point presentation to the BOA, was that the indoor ice rink did not meet demand by the public for such activities as ice-time for existing hockey programs, figure skating training, and for the future girls hockey program. The rink will be a self-sustaining development, in that fees and revenue will outweigh costs by over $400,000 in fiscal years 2012 and 2013, making the rink essentially turn a profit.

The new outdoor rink will be 14,836 sq.ft., and will be built adjacent to the existing rink. Now that it has been approved, the rink will put out to bid, with a projected awarding of the contract in August, and projected completion in December.