Gold Medal Olympian Dorothy Hamill Voices Support For New Greenwich Ice Rink

GREENWICH, CT — Plans for a new ice skating rink in town received a gold medal endorsement from one of Greenwich's sports heroes last week.

Dorothy Hamill, for whom the town named its public skating rink after, spoke via Zoom during the March 26 Board of Estimate and Taxation public hearing on the proposed fiscal year 2027 budget.

Included in the budget are $1.2 million for design work and $40 million for construction of a new Hamill rink within Eugene Morlot Memorial Park.

The rink was built in 1972 as a slab of ice and boards, and expanded piecemeal. The facility has fallen into disrepair in the years since, to the point that a replacement is needed.

Hamill grew up in Greenwich, but had to skate at Playland Park as it was the only place that offered an indoor rink. She went on to capture the women's singles figure skating gold medal at the 1976 Winter Olympics in Innsbruck, Austria.

"The community rink is just so great. It's where people can dream, and it's a healthy, wonderful exercise with music," Hamill said in her comments to the BET. "It's not about going to the Olympics... Community skating is just a wonderful time to pass the day, even for adults. I'm excited you're all helping to get the new rink built."

First Selectman Fred Camillo praised Hamill and recalled watching her win gold in 1976.

"We all knew Dorothy Hamill was something special. To hear her talk tonight about this project, you couldn't get any more of a ringing endorsement than that," he said.

Camillo noted talks regarding a new rink stretch as far back as 1975.

"Fifty-one years of research has shown over and over again that what we have now before you is the right thing," said Camillo, who noted a willingness from some individuals in town to donate money to help bring down the project's price tag.

The current proposal calls for the construction of a new 40,671-square-foot, regulation-size skating facility in the outfield of the current Strazza Field, the baseball diamond, within Eugene Morlot Memorial Park, just north of the existing rink.

The existing rink would remain operational to support programming. When the new rink is ready, the old rink will be demolished and replaced with a new parking lot to meet current zoning regulations.

The existing parking lot would then be removed and replaced with a new 90-foot, reoriented baseball diamond, complete with dugouts, some stands, an outfield fence, and 300-foot dimensions down the baselines.

Additionally, there will be a new entrance drive installed off of Western Junior Highway, a pedestrian path throughout the park, and related site improvements.

The current rink proposal expands on the original "flip" concept, which was halted by the Representative Town Meeting last January after several residents referred Municipal Improvement status to the RTM, an action allowed under the town charter.

The Hamill Rink Task Force was formed in March 2025 after the RTM's vote. The task force has held around 30 public meetings, including two public hearings, and gathered public feedback from stakeholders.

The current proposal received MI status from the Greenwich Planning & Zoning Commission on March 17.

MI status is required for all projects on town property and allows projects to pursue funding from the BET.