Meriden Breaks Ground for Ice Rink

At about 1:30 p.m. Monday, city workers stood at the Meriden Hub taking stock of their progress. They had been grading the grassy lot all morning with tractors and marking off an oval shape – the first steps in putting in the city's new NHL-sized ice skating rink for winter.

"It's kind of like a kiddie pool, we put in the liner, fill it up with water, it freezes and there you go," city highway worker Nick Pinto said.

Throughout this week, city workers will be installing the 200-by-88-foot ice rink in the middle of the Hub site, a patch of government-owned land between State and Pratt streets. The effort was funded by the city and a group of local businesses and is part of a continued effort to draw foot traffic to downtown Meriden.

Mother Nature will decide when the rink actually opens for skating. It arrived last Friday, and requires five days of 20-degree or colder weather to install the liner.

Having studied December temperatures from previous years, Mayor Michael Rohde said he believes this will happen in the next week or so. When the rink is ready, the city plans to have a grand opening with a 30-foot Christmas tree and is in talks with professional skaters to perhaps perform a show, he said.

Rohde has received much public feedback about the rink. Some residents worry about its perceived cost to the city. The rink itself was $10,400, including delivery, of which the city paid $3,500 and other local businesses picked up the rest of the tab.  

"The majority of responses have been positive," he said. "Hubbard Park hasn't been freezing well over the last few years and residents are glad to have a place to bring their families to skate." 

Caitlin Ferrucci was born and raised in Meriden and is excited about the opening as it draws near.

"My mother used to bring me as a child to Hubbard Park and the small pond on Diamond Hill to skate each year," said Ferrucci. "I am so excited to be able to start the tradition with my own daughter Cailey."

Visitors will have to bring their own skates to the rink when it opens. As the season progresses, the city is hoping to have children's skates available through non-profit groups -- it is also exploring skate rental options. Organizers are also hoping to schedule time slots for certain groups to have private skating sessions.

As for safety concerns at the site, security flood lights will be installed and the Meriden Fire Department is located directly across the street in case of emergency.

"We've had tens of thousands of people at the Hub from events such as the circus, the Jeff Boucher Memorial Car Show, the Halloween Happening by the YMCA, the block party by the Housing Authority, and the Back to School Expo and not a single negative incident was reported," Rohde said. "According to town statistics, downtown is one of the safest areas in the city."