Sports

Dunham Hockey Rink Reopens Quietly After Two and Half Years

Gate unlocked, but work still to be completed, on rink closed since summer 2010.

There is good news for those who have been waiting for the reopening of the roller hockey rink but it isn't time for a ribbon cutting yet.

The rink, with a new asphalt service, informally opened earlier this month with the unlocking of the gate to allow entry.

The repair job for the hockey rink is not totally complete, and officials for the township parks and recreation department said this week it will be closed again temporarily when a final color coating is installed.

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That finishing touch must wait until the weather warms up a little, said Township Administrator Bruce McArthur.

Nevertheless, the overhaul of the hockey rink — which stirred up some local controversy over the best new surface to install on the township-owned facility — is mostly complete. The facility has been closed since summer 2010.

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Township parks and recreation director Jennifer Gander agreed with the assessment of the facility's availability as a "soft opening."

Once the final coat is in place, the parks and recreation department is looking ahead to perhaps starting hockey league games to be held this summer at the rink off Somerville Road, according to parks officials, including Gander.

For those who have been waiting for a shot at enjoying the rink again, the news spread quietly that they could get inside and pick up their hockey sticks again.

Late on Tuesday afternoon, four local friends played an informal game with sticks and a plastic bin that doubled as a goal.

Dan Gordon of Basking Ridge said a friend had tipped him off that the rink was open again.

"We happy it's open again," he said.

For various reasons, the project took five tries to find an acceptable contractor last fall to resurface, regrade and install a drainage system at the closed roller hockey rink at Harry Dunham Park — and at the right price.

Even before the Township Committee last September awarded a $121,660 contract for the job, the township's public works employees had been out at the rink off Somerville Road. Trucks and workers and digging up the old and cracked asphalt surface.

Township Engineer Tom Timko said the contractor is Halecon Inc. of Bridgewater.


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