Connell rink repairs spark hunt for ice time
WEYMOUTH -- The state is closing the 35-year-old Connell Memorial Rink and Swimming Pool for repairs for the rest of the year, forcing a mad search for ice time around the region.
"Not opening that rink in the fall cripples us," said Tom Keenan, president of Weymouth Youth Hockey. "Ninety percent of our practice time is done at that rink. We have over 400 children, ages 5 to 18, using that rink. We'll have to start scrambling and see what we can do."
Other groups using the facility, which is run by the state Department of Conservation and Recreation, include Weymouth, Braintree, Hanover, Hull, and Archbishop Williams high school hockey teams, Braintree and Hingham youth hockey, as well as the South Shore Seahawks.
Weymouth's recreation department runs programs in the pool, which also is used by the Weymouth and Hingham high school swim teams.
"We are working diligently to find alternatives," said DCR spokesman Wendy Fox. "Believe me, we understand how important this facility is for the community. It's huge."
DCR is holding a meeting Thursday at 6:30 p.m., in the Whipple Senior Center/McCullough Building, 182 Green St., North Weymouth, to discuss the closing. "We want to let people know what we are doing and we want them to voice their feelings," Fox said.
Fox said the state closed the rink and pool for repairs for four days in March, after a piece of the ceiling fell.
Further inspections in May and June revealed larger problems, which need $1 million in roof work to fix, she said.
It takes six to eight weeks to make the required arrangements, but construction should start in September and be finished by January, Fox said.
The rink in the building, which was named for a former Weymouth selectman and World War II veteran, usually opens in the fall and closes in April. The indoor pool, which was extensively renovated last year, traditionally opens the Tuesday after Labor Day and closes in June.
Finding a replacement will be difficult for groups using the facility. Although there are numerous ice rinks on the South Shore, many already are booked.
"We don't really have the space to accommodate them," said Hoby Taylor, president of Pilgrim Skating Arena in Hingham. "All the convenient and prime time hours are gone."
David DelGrosso of Scituate is president of the South Shore Seahawks, a youth hockey program with more than 500 members from Scituate, Norwell, and Hull that uses Connell for four of its 31 teams. He said he's already looking for ice somewhere else.
"People talk about all these rinks opening up, but it's still difficult to get ice time. Kids can only practice from 4 in the afternoon, when they get out of school, to 9 at night. That's only a five-hour window. Some high schools practice at 5:30 in the morning, but you can't ask these little kids to do that.
"There's going to be a domino effect," he said, with lots of programs looking for space to practice and play games all over the region. "I don't want to cast any aspersions on those guys [at DCR]. They've been very good to us and we want to go back. We'll be patient, as patient as we can be."
Keenan, 43, who played hockey at Connell as a child, plans to be at the meeting Thursday to represent Weymouth Youth Hockey. "DCR has been very, very good to us, so hopefully . . . we'll be able to figure out a good game plan," he said.
The alternative isn't attractive, he added. Keenan's three sons, ages 8, 11, and 14, use Connell rink.
"If they can't play hockey, they're going to drive their mother crazy," he said. 