A rollerskating rink complete with a sound system and lighting is expected to open within a month on Adams Street between First and Second streets, city officials said last week. The 145-by-65-foot rink, which has been built in a space once occupied by a little used city park, was constructed with almost $600,000 the city received through the Community Development Block Grant program – a federally funded initiative administered by the county.
The rink will be open to children and adults for general roller-skating at designated times throughout the week, said Environmental Services Director Tim Calligy on Wednesday. It is expected to be open a few nights a week and weekends during the colder months of the year and seven days a week when it gets warmer.
The rink will also play host to the city’s first outdoor roller hockey league, city officials said.
“We started an indoor hockey league about three years ago,” said Calligy. “There has been an overwhelming interest in that. But now the kids that began playing in it are getting a little older so the indoor space is just not big enough to hold them. This will allow them to keep playing.”
Approximately 100 children participate in the league now, and officials estimate a similar number will sign up to play outdoors.
In addition to the rollerskating opportunities, the park also contains two full basketball courts that will be used to host a league during good weather. Park benches, trees and a sprinkle pad that kids can run through surround the rink. Admission will be free initially, although city administrators say they may have to charge a fee in the future.
City officials began looking for a space that could hold a rink after canvassing city residents recently about what additional recreational facilities they would like to see in town.
“We wanted to build an ice skating rink because that is what people wanted most,” said Calligy. “But the space was not big enough to hold a regulation size ice skating rink. It was big enough for a regulation size roller rink so that’s what we did.”
The rink was built on top of a park that had been built by the city in 1970 in conjunction with the Model Cities program, said Public Information Director Michael Korman. City officials say that it was a perfect place to build the rink since the park had fallen into a state of disrepair over the years.