Ice rink construction begins today

February 5th, 2010 | By Matthew Bachtell | Section: Issues

As the campus continues its months of salting, shoveling and defrosting, members of the Grinnell College community can look forward to using the low temperatures to their advantage, with the installation of an ice rink. The rink is the product of a student initiative that was passed last semester, but not implemented until this month when water can freeze.

“My initiative was for a completely student run…ice rink,” said Danica Radoshevich ’12, an avid hockey fan, and author of the initiative. “I thought it’d be a nice way to take advantage of what’s otherwise pretty unpleasant weather.”

The initiative encountered few obstacles. STIFund (Student Initiative Fund) willingly overlooked a single vote shortfall of the two-thirds majority required for passage, and the rink itself is considerably cheaper than initially expected. In order to build it, SGA obtained permission from Student Affairs, Facilities Management, which had to approve the location, and an insurance office, to offset liability.

“It was just a matter of trying to coordinate everything and meet with people,” said Vice President of Student Affairs, Ben Offenberg ’11.

The materials for the rink, including lumber and tarp, which will cover an area of two thousand four hundred square feet, were purchased on Tuesday. The rink will be installed on the East Campus basketball courts for the remainder of the winter, after which it will be disassembled so it can be stored and reused next year.

“It’s not ideal for every student, because I can’t get skate rentals and things like that. It’s not the most accessible, in terms of the rink, but my idea is to start it up…and see if I can get people to be more interested in hockey and ice skating,” Radoshevich said.

Even though Radoshevich did not budget for skating equipment in the student initiative, she hopes that future student groups can organize the funds to make ice skates available to more students.

Until then, students can turn to the hockey’s thrifty alternative: broomball.
“Some people want to play broomball, which doesn’t require skates,” Radoshevich said.
Many students are looking forward to the new skating rink, as an opportunity to try something new.

“I mean, I’m from the beach, so I don’t know how to ice skate, but I feel like all these Midwesterners can probably teach me a thing or two,” said Erin Labasan ’11.
This afternoon, Radoshevich will begin clearing the basketball courts, and welcomes any interested students to lend a hand.