With plans advancing for a new indoor ice rink at the Lynch/van Otterloo YMCA, Marblehead’s Recreation and Parks Commission is dropping a skating rink from its Reynolds Field project and shifting toward a multipurpose facility for street hockey, futsal and other activities.
“Ice is out,” Rec & Parks Commissioner Shelly Bedrossian said at an Oct. 20 meeting. Bedrossian hosted several community meetings to get input on how best to move forward.
Last night, the commission voted unanimously to ask architectural and engineering firm CHA to design the full project, including a street hockey rink with a roof, even though the town may not have enough money to build everything at once.
“Have them design the whole thing, and then we scale back where we need to,” Commissioner Chris Kennedy said.
In addition to the street hockey rink, the Reynolds plan includes new turf playing fields.
The revised project estimate ranges from approximately $3.7 million to $3.9 million, depending on which features are included. That includes a $297,000 construction contingency that may not be fully needed. The commission’s vote authorizes design work, not construction. Commissioners will decide which features to include as the project moves toward procurement, based on available funding.
The project will be funded largely by the Larz Anderson Trust. The fund totals $3.3 million. Anderson expressed a preference, but not a requirement, that the money support winter sports.
Bedrossian also discussed pursuing grants, including funding for accessibility improvements, rather than launching a major fundraising campaign.
That approach would distinguish the Reynolds Field project from the separate effort by Friends of Marblehead Hockey to raise approximately $25 million for a year-round indoor rink at the YMCA.
