SOUTH KINGSTOWN – The University of Rhode Island’s on-campus indoor ice rink will remain closed until next month while university officials work to make repairs to get the facility reopened. However, the financial impact of the rink’s closure on the university is currently unclear.
URI says mechanical issues back in August at Bradford R. Boss Arena, which hosts youth hockey programs, area high school hockey teams and the university’s club hockey teams, led to a “near-complete loss” of the arena’s ice plant, leading to the arena’s now two-month-long closure to date. The plant helps create and maintain the ice inside the arena.
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While URI says the arena will reopen on Nov. 6 in advance of when hockey season ramps up locally, URI spokesperson Dave Lavallee told Providence Business News on Thursday the repair project is complex to a degree. He said the university is working to bring in temporary equipment to make ice quickly and the second stage will be to put in “permanent, final machinery” afterward.
“We’re getting done what needs to be done to get that [ice] surface back in play,” Lavallee said.
Lavallee said exact figures of the financial impact the arena’s closure has had on URI in terms of how much revenue was lost over the last couple of months and how much the repairs will be are not immediately available. He did confirm, however, that there will be lost revenue and a substantial cost to get the arena back online.
Lavallee also confirmed the funds URI received to make renovations and upgrades to the other athletic facilities on campus, including Meade Stadium and the outdoor track, will not be used to fix Boss Arena. He said the closure did impact the various hockey programs, including URI’s club teams, because they had to find other ice rinks to practice and compete – URI did assist in temporarily relocating those teams, Lavallee said.
James Bessette is the PBN special projects editor, and also covers the nonprofit and education sectors. You may reach him at Bessette@PBN.com. You may also follow him on Twitter at @James_Bessette.
